


Stark Secrets

by hp80



Series: Gone Too Soon [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Canon Divergence - Spider-Man: Homecoming, F.R.I.D.A.Y. - Freeform, Flash is a bully, Gen, Identity Reveal, Irondad, Karen - Freeform, Michelle is observant, Midtown High, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, POV James "Rhodey" Rhodes, POV Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Pov ned leeds, Protective Happy, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Ned Leeds, Rogue Avengers, Spider traits, Star Wars References, Stark Industries, Stark Tower, all of the feels, and apparently he does have a rough homelife, and he gets one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23746993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hp80/pseuds/hp80
Summary: “He shouldn’t have done it. Peter realized that now. But Flash had just made him so angry, and Ned had looked so sad that he didn’t really think about the risks. Well, he had a little bit, but clearly he’d miscalculated, which was how he had quite literally landed in front of Ned and in the process outed himself as Spider-Man.”Or: Ned finds out about Peter’s superhero alter ego, and it turns out, that’s not the only secret his friend has been keeping from him.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Gone Too Soon [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1360843
Comments: 113
Kudos: 345





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, we return to this AU! And I’m kinda excited about it, but to anyone waiting for me to continue We Will Remember, I promise I will, just not sure when that will be. I needed a break from it, because with everything that’s going on in the world right now, I felt like writing something a little less depressing; but knowing me, this will probably turn out darker than I plan. Also, fyi, the chapter count is just an estimate at this point, and I recommend reading the other two fics in this series first but you probably don’t have to.

Peter POV

He shouldn't have done it. Peter realized that now. But Flash had just made him _so angry_ , and Ned had looked so sad that he didn't really think about the risks. Well, he had a little bit, but _clearly_ he'd miscalculated, which was how he had quite literally landed in front of Ned and in the process outed himself as Spider-Man.

* * *

_Earlier . . ._

Flash was such a jerk. Peter didn't like to hate people, but man, if he _had_ to pick someone to hate . . . well, Flash wouldn't exactly have to interview for the position. He'd be a shoo-in for sure.

Ugh, he was so _mean_ sometimes! And for no reason at all! It didn't make any sense to Peter. He guessed that bullying never really made much sense, but, with Flash, it _really_ didn't make sense. Weren't bullies supposed to pick on people because they were insecure? That's what the Captain America PSAs and all those other anti-bullying propaganda they'd been fed since kindergarten seemed to preach anyway, but Flash was the exact opposite of insecure.

Described in three words, he was a rich, arrogant, asshole.

And _that_ couldn't be an act because—besides being way too exhausting of a front to keep up if he wasn't actually confident—what did Flash have to be insecure about? Unlike Peter, Flash had a ton of friends, was charismatic—even if his charisma skills were put toward tormenting others— _and_ from the way he raved about their opinion of him, Flash had _two_ living parents who thought he walked on water.

Sure, Flash wasn't the smartest kid in their school, or even their class, but he was still smart enough to be at Midtown and on the Decathlon Team, so even Peter had to admit he wasn't a complete idiot. But if there was something else that made Flash behave the way he did, Peter couldn't imagine what it could be.

Usually Flash's antics didn't get to him so much because, for some reason, Flash typically limited his bullying to Peter (lucky for him), and if Peter was the target of his harassment, then at least that meant no one else was, but _today_ , Flash had decided to pick on Ned.

And Peter wasn't 100% _NOT_ okay with that.

It had all started when they'd been getting ready for P.E. to begin. When he was rummaging through some old boxes in the workshop after Rhodey had kindly—but firmly—told him he needed to straighten up the place before he was allowed to begin any new projects, Peter had found an old t-shirt from the infamous Stark Expo that happened to be Ned's size. Peter knew that Ned would be stoked about it because he had loved Iron Man—not as much as Peter, but well, _no one_ loved Iron Man as much as Peter—and anytime Peter could make Ned's day a little better was a good day, because Ned made Peter's life _infinitely_ better every day just by being his friend.

So, Peter had brought the shirt to school, and presented it to Ned in the locker room right before they had to head back into the gym with the rest of the classmates. Ironically, they were rock climbing today. It wasn't anything close to a skyscraper in height, but the school did have a small rock-climbing wall with about six different routes that graced one of the non-bleachered walls in the gym.

Obviously, Peter couldn't exactly tell Ned where he had really found the shirt, so instead, Peter told him that he had come across it on E-bay, and managed to get it for a really good deal. He didn't really think Ned bought the latter half of the lie. Over the years Ned had seemed to catch on that Peter wasn't exactly hard up for money, but the important thing was that Ned didn't guess the true origin of the shirt. And he didn't, which was great because Ned was just as elated as Peter expected him to be about the gift, and he would have remained so . . . if not for Flash.

"Hey, _Nerd_ , what've you got there?" asked Flash snatching the shirt out of Ned's hands and holding it up.

"Hey, Flash." said Ned with a lot less enthusiasm than he had shown moments ago, but even Flash couldn't completely dampen Ned's excitement, not yet anyway. "Peter got it for me. It's an original Stark Expo t-shirt from the one where—"

Flash snorted holding up the garment in front of him. "This is a _shirt_? Are you sure it's not a _tent_?"

Ned flushed. Ned wasn't that self-conscious about his weight. Honestly, he tended to have more confidence than Peter, and Lord knows he was _way_ more mindful about what he ate than Peter was, even before the Spider bite, but it didn't take a mind-reader to know that Flash's comment had hurt all the same.

"Shut-up Flash. And give it back." Peter demanded making to grab it from Flash's hands, but Flash quickly pulled it out of reach. Of course, Peter could have been quicker and gotten it back from Flash by way of force, but he didn't. He couldn't. Because right now, Peter wasn't Spider-Man.

He wasn't even Peter Stark.

He was just puny Peter Parker.

"Actually, I think I'll hang onto it Penis. It does look legit, even if it is a tent."

"Flash—" Peter growled angrily, but then Coach Wilson blew his whistle signaling the start of class, and Flash took off with the t-shirt, and despite its size, managing to roll it up enough to tuck it semi-securely into the pocket of his hoodie, while Peter and Ned reluctantly followed.

After that, they'd muddled through gym class, much less cheerfully than normal, which was saying something because neither of them much liked P.E. Well, Peter didn't mind it that much anymore. Now that he could do most exercise without even breaking a sweat and run a mile without taking desperate breaths into his inhaler.

But Ned . . . Ned, was still not a fan, and Peter was stuck pretending he could still barely make it halfway up the wall. So yep; not _everything_ had changed since he decided to moonlight as a vigilante.

Peter tried to cheer Ned up throughout class, saying that they could break into Flash's locker later and steal the shirt back, or god forbid, if worst came to worst they could involve a teacher, but Ned had repeated over and over again not to worry about it. He said if they stole it back Flash would just retaliate by picking on Peter more than usual, and if they involved a teacher, then Flash would somehow manage to blame Peter for something to get him in trouble too. Peter said he didn't care, but in the end it didn't matter because when Flash was on his last climb of the day and Coach Wilson had stepped out to help some kid who had gotten a small (but bloody) cut on his finger from one the harness clips, Flash had whistled to get their attention and then, with both of them watching, he'd tossed the shirt up into the ceiling rafters were it joined quite possibly _years_ ' worth of lost volleyballs, Frisbees, and other crap that kids had somehow managed to hurtle too high into the air, never to be retrieved.

So anyway, that was why—even though he hadn't really thought about how he would explain the shirt's sudden reappearance—Peter had hung back after class had ended and everyone, (including Mr. Wilson) had filed out, telling Ned he'd forgotten something in the locker room and that he'd just meet him in the next period. And _that_ was why he was currently racking his brain for some excuse that would get him out of this mess, because he hadn't forgotten anything. Instead, Peter—barefoot and harness free—had scaled the rock-climbing wall, ignoring the hand holds, walked across the ceiling, grabbed the shirt and—executing a flip or two . . . or maybe three—dropped down to the floor, prize in hand, landing in expert Spidey style perfectly on his feet . . . right in front of a slack-jawed Ned.

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come! Please drop me a comment if you feel up to it. Stay safe out there people. Also, somewhat unrelatedly, I have a funny story. So my family and I watched JoJo Rabbit the other day (great movie btw), and because Taika Waititi directed it, I mentioned that he also directed Thor: Ragnarok, so I argued that if they liked JoJo Rabbit, theoretically they might also like a Marvel movie. This eventually turned into me monopolizing the conversation for a few minutes until this happened:
> 
> Family: Is Spider-Man in Marvel movies?
> 
> Me: *explains the evolution of Spider-Man from Tobey Maguire to Andrew Garfield to Tom Holland to the recent fight/deal between Sony and Disney*
> 
> Family: What is the M.C.U.?
> 
> Me:
> 
> Family:
> 
> Me: Well, I tried.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: some dialogue in this chapter, and probably in future chapters, is from Spider-Man: Homecoming, but I hope you still enjoy it!

Peter POV

"You're the Spider-Man. From YouTube." Said Ned eyes wide.

"I'm not. I'm not." Peter denied desperately. This wasn't happening. Ned couldn't know he was Spider-Man. It would complicate _everything_.

"You were on the ceiling!" Ned exclaimed pointing upward with one finger. You just did a triple flip!"

"No, I wasn't!" Peter denied again though he knew it was a hopeless tactic. "I didn't!"

"Oh my God. MybestfriendisSpider-Man!" Ned exclaimed more loudly this time, throwing his hands up to the side of his face.

"Ned! Shh shh! Be quiet!" Peter pleaded in a too-loud whisper yell, looking around the gym, which was thankfully still empty. But Ned wasn't listening to him. Instead, he'd started pacing.

"My best friend is Spider-Man. My best friendis Spider-Man!" Ned repeated a second time before coming to a sudden halt. "Wait. _MY_ _best friend_ is Spider—"

Finally, Peter rushed forward and clamped one hand over Ned's mouth to keep him quiet. "Ned! You've gotta stop—"

"Hey!" a voice called from across the gym, and both boys turned wide-eyed to find Coach Wilson staring back at them, looking equal parts bemused and annoyed.

"Leeds! Parker! What are you boys still doing here? And for God's sake Parker, where are your _shoes_?" He asked eyeing the boy, appalled and curious, taking in the fact that Peter—in addition to being barefoot—was still standing with his hand over Ned's mouth. "How many times do I have to tell you kids not to go barefoot on the gym floor? You don't know what kind of bacteria is living on it. You'll catch something nasty and have to get a foot amputated. And if you don't believe me, just asked my cousin Nick. It happened to him. And if it happens to you, then _I'll_ be in trouble. Overall, it just won't be a good outcome for anyone. You kids think you're immortal, but you're not!"

Peter and Ned both opened their mouth to speak, but Coach Wilson pressed on with barely a pause for breath.

"Well hurry up. You're going to be late for next period, and don't think I'm going to write you a pass because that's _not_ happening. Last time I did that for a kid he put a stink bomb in the boy's restroom, or maybe he just took a really potent number two. I don't know. But either way, don't you two have Algebra or Geometry or something with shapes and/or numbers next? Whatever it is, you and Mr. Leeds are usually in a hurry to get there."

"Y-yea. S-sorry. Coach Wilson. We were just going. Forgot something." Said Peter quickly dropping his hand from Ned's mouth, and wiping it on his jeans. He then hastily grabbed the t-shirt that had put him in this mess in the first place from where he'd dropped it on the ground and snagged his shoes and socks from where they'd lay a few feet behind him. Coach Wilson raised one eyebrow at him, but otherwise looked unperturbed.

"Alright, well get to it then. And Parker, " Peter paused mid-step as he dragged Ned past Coach Wilson and struggled to hastily pull his footwear on at the same time. "I want to see you make it to the top of the wall next class. I'm sure you can do it. It looked like you were barely trying today."

"Right. Uh . . . I'll-I'll try harder next time, Coach Wilson." Peter squeaked out, plastering a smile on his face that probably looked more like a grimace. Apparently, he was not as good at hiding his powers as he had thought. (The last few minutes excluded of course. That was clearly an outlier that should be disregarded for statistical purposes.)

Then Coach Wilson headed back to his office and Peter finished pulling Ned into the hallway that was nearly empty now that class was about to start.

"Peter! This is so amazing!" said Ned wasting no time now that they were alone again once more. "I can't _wait_ to see the look on Flash's face when we tell him that you're—"

"No Ned! Jesus. No one _can_ know! You can't tell anybody about this! You _have_ to keep it a secret!" said Peter giving up any hope that he could convince Ned that he wasn't actually Spider-Man.

That shut Ned up immediately. And he regarded Peter with a look of utter disbelief. "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I'll level with you. I don't think I can keep this a secret. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, _Peter_!"

"No, no, NO. Why do you think Spider-Man wears a mask, Ned?! Because he has a secret identity!" Peter shot backing, forcing himself to keep his voice at a reasonable level.

"Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?" Ned tilted his head curiously. "And No one knows? Like _no one._ Not even your uncle? _No_ _one_?"

"No! No one knows! Especially not him! If he knew people try to kill me every night, he would _freak out! Please_ Ned. Don't tell anyone! You can't!" Peter could feel his eyes start to burn and he knew if he didn't calm down soon he would start crying in the middle of the high school hallway, which—empty or not—would be _super_ embarrassing. But Ned must have _finally_ seen how serious he was about this (or maybe he could just tell his friend was about to cry) because, at last, he relented.

"Okay. I won't tell." Ned said softly.

"Promise?" asked Peter just as quietly, wincing as he—to his embarrassment—sniffled a little.

"I promise." Said Ned holding out his pinky finger. Peter linked his friend's finger with his own, not caring how childish of an act it was. They'd been pinky swearing about things since they were eight years old, and it hadn't failed either of them yet, so why change the system now?

"Thank you." Peter said releasing Ned's finger and then holding out his hand expectantly.

Ned just smiled apologetically and took Peter's hand to quickly run through their signature handshake.

"Of course, Peter. _You're_ my best friend, not Spider-Man. Well, I mean, I guess he is too because that's you, but, you know what I mean."

"Yea, Ned. I do." Said Peter, and, despite the fact that he was still thoroughly freaking out about the recent chain of events, he smiled weakly back at his best friend.

* * *

Just because Ned agreed not to tell anyone about him being Spider-Man, did _not_ mean he was ready to drop the topic, quite the opposite actually. The rest of the day Ned hit Peter rapid-fire with a list of questions that were on a scale from totally ridiculous to absolutely insane. The only reprieve he had from the questioning was right after gym in Mrs. Richardson's class because, unlike most teachers, she didn't let them pick seats at the beginning of the school year, which—even though Peter enjoyed the class as much as he did any high school level course—any other day annoyed the hell out of Peter because he just wanted to sit by his best friend, but today, it was a relief.

Peter knew Ned wasn't actively _trying_ to spill Peter's secret—the Spider-Man one—but he was _not_ good at whispering. Never had been. Never would be, which again, was more of a problem now then it would normally be. Peter was constantly having to shush him while trying to quickly answer his questions without drawing attention to themselves, which was _exhausting_ to say the least.

Fortunately, no one ever paid much attention to him or Ned, so even though that could be _really_ irritating at times, this time, it worked in their favor. Well . . . mostly. Peter was pretty sure that Michelle knew they were discussing something more than Star Wars today because she almost never looked up from her book during class or the in the hallway or . . . or anytime really, and she'd done it like _three_ times just during lunch, fixing her gaze on them—on _him_ —without saying a word. That girl was _way_ too attentive . . . and a bit scary.

Yep, scary. That was what the feeling in his stomach he felt when her hazel eyes met his, right? Yea, that—that was all it was. Just fear.

So yea, keeping Ned's questioning on the DL was a struggle, especially when most—if not all—of his questions would sound completely bonkers if anyone over heard them. Like _seriously?_ Did he lay eggs? Could he summon an army of spiders?

_No!_ Jeesh. He wasn't _actually_ a spider. Besides, no real spider could summon an army of spiders, at least, not that Peter was aware of. And, anyway, he just had some spider DNA now. A miniscule amount really. Barely even significant in the grand scheme of things. He wasn't _that_ much of a freak. He was still human . . . mostly.

Some of Ned's questions though, weren't _that_ insane, or at least, once he had some time to ruminate over them, a few of them didn't seem quite as farfetched as he had originally thought. And actually, a couple questions had forced him to (silently) acknowledge that there _might_ be some things he still needed to figure out about his new body.

Ugh, he sounded like a puberty video.

Like, for example, Ned had asked him if he could spit venom. And he'd barely given it a thought before answering no, while pretending to focus intensely on taking chemistry notes, even though they both knew that he didn't need to. But when Mr. Harrington had finally scolded them for talking during his lecture—which was a rare event—Peter had a bit of time to reflect on the venom thing.

He had never really given the concept of him being venomous much thought before, mainly because there were so many other more significant changes to his person since the spider bite—like super strength and stickiness—that making sure he didn't stick to a door or wrench it off its hinges every time he went to open one had been his primary focus, especially before he'd gotten somewhat used to his powers.

But . . . if he were being _completely_ honest . . . his canine teeth did seem to feel a little . . . _sharper_ than normal since the bite. And well, there _had_ been that one time when he had been fighting off a big group of bad guys in his old suit and one of the guys had somehow managed to slide his mask up a smidge. Peter had panicked—rightfully so in his opinion—and bitten the guy who had subsequently screamed, wobbled around for a bit and then passed out.

But Peter had checked him over afterward and he'd seemed to be breathing fine! Plus, by the time the police arrived, with Peter safely watching from a nearby rooftop, the guy had started to come to. After that, Peter'd gotten caught up chasing a bicycle thief; then thwarting a purse robbery; then a _car_ robbery; then, when he'd finally snuck back into his Memaw's apartment in the wee hours of the morning, he'd just barely managed to finish his homework before collapsing in exhaustion, probably getting less than 3 hours of sleep that night.

So, by morning, he'd forgotten about the entire incident . . . or maybe he'd just pushed it from his mind because him being venomous was another problem he didn't want to think about.

But now . . .

What if he _was_ venomous?

If he ever managed to kiss a girl, would his spit kill her? Because that'd be just great _—not_.

No doubt he would be worrying about a million other things during his first kiss, so why not add 'potential manslaughter' to the list as well? Or maybe he'd just have to present any would-be kisser with a waiver before said kissing would commence:

WARNING: Kissing Peter Parker Stark may result in imminent death. Proceed at your own peril!

But he couldn't think about that right now. He had to handle one crises at a time, like making sure Ned didn't spill the beans on his biggest (second biggest?) secret. Besides, it wasn't like he would be kissing a girl anytime soon. Nobody wanted to date Puny Peter Parker. It was only recently that he'd grown tall enough so that the girls weren't _completely_ towering over him.

Rhodey said he had his dad to thank for that. Apparently, he'd also been a 'short and skinny little white kid' their freshman year at MIT. (Rhodey's words—not his.)

"Where did you get your new suit? Did the Avengers give it to you?" Ned asked his gazillionth question, interrupting Peter's wayward thoughts as the last bell rang and they finally— _finally_ —exited their last class of the day.

"No, Ned. They did not give it to me. I built it." said Peter. "It just . . . took a while and I didn't want to wait before I went out Spider-Manning, so I had to . . . improvise in the beginning."

"You built it?! Dude, that's _so_ awesome!" Ned said as they gathered their things from their lockers and got swept up with the other students who were headed toward the doors to freedom. "Wait. How? Like I don't doubt that you're smart enough to do it, but that thing just looks _super_ high-tech. It had to be really expensive to make, right?"

And just like that, Ned was getting really close to his _other_ secret. You know, the one about him being the son of a billionaire?

When he'd first met Ned, even though he'd been pretty young—it felt like they'd been friends forever—he'd been old enough to understand that he couldn't tell Ned who he really was, or at least, he was old enough to understand that he wasn't supposed to. But the more he'd gotten to know Ned, the more he had wanted to tell him. They told each other everything, and yet, in some ways, their whole friendship was built on a lie. But whenever Peter had broached the idea of telling Ned to Rhodey, his uncle had understandingly but forcefully told him that he was not allowed to do so. If he wanted to tell Ned or the world when he was 18 that was fine. Then It would be his right to make that decision, but until then, Peter was Rhodey's responsibility, and when it came to Peter's safety, he was going to be as cautious as possible.

According to Rhodey, too many people knew about him already, and if he wanted to have a normal childhood, then he couldn't go around telling his friends that he was Tony Stark's kid. What if they had a big fight? What if they became enemies? What if they simply drifted apart? In Rhodey's view, at best his former friend might feel like the fact that Tony Stark had a son wasn't something he needed to be quiet about, or at worst, he might actively seek to expose that fact. So eventually, Peter just stopped asking altogether, and accepted that his best friend wouldn't _truly_ know him, until they were at least adults.

But now . . . Ned already knew he was Spider-Man, and he'd promised to keep that a secret. Despite his constant questions and his apparent inability to whisper, Peter didn't really think Ned would ever intentionally reveal something Peter wasn't ready for the world to know. And Peter trusted his friend. He trusted him with his life, so he should trust him with _all_ of his secrets.

Right?

Besides, with his Spider-Man secret now out in the open, Peter highly doubted that he could keep the fact that he was Tony Stark's son from Ned and still be honest with him about Spider-Man.

Plus, what's more, if he didn't tell Ned about who his father was, he was afraid that Ned might attempt tell an adult about his late-night activities, most likely Happy because that was the parental figure Ned most frequently interacted with, having never met Rhodey.

Ned was worrier, at least when it came to Peter. Usually it had to do with Peter's (now nonexistent) asthma, but when the initial excitement about his best friend being Spider-Man faded, Ned's tendency to be a mother-hen would probably come out in full force once it fully hit him that people tried to kill him on a regular basis. But if he knew that Iron Man was his father, maybe Ned would be more inclined to understand that he could handle the danger on his own because being a superhero was practically in his blood . . . not that he really thought of himself as a superhero. He was just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Half the time he was just hanging out on rooftops really.

And honestly, after having gotten over the initial anxiety about someone finding out one of his biggest secrets, being able to talk to someone about _either_ of his secrets, especially his best friend . . . was starting to seem more and more appealing.

Peter had made his decision. He was going to tell Ned, his best friend, who cared about him, who ultimately wouldn't treat him differently because he was Spider-Man _or_ because he was Peter Parker _Stark_. He was going to tell him.

He was going to tell him _everything_.

But for now, Peter was saved from replying when Happy honked his horn at him from the front of the pick-up line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fyi, I don't know that Mr. Harrington is actually the chemistry teacher, but if he runs the decathlon team, he's got to teach something, so that's what I picked. Maybe it's canon that he teaches computer science or robotics, but I couldn't confirm that from his wiki page, and I don't remember if they ever say in the movie. Anyway, thank you all for your comments and kudos on the first chapter. I would love to hear from you again or even for the first time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Star Wars day!

**Peter POV**

"Come on." Said Peter grabbing his friend by the arm and gently pulling him toward the car where Happy was waiting.

"Wh-what?" said Ned looking bewildered.

Peter could understand his confusion. Usually they said their goodbyes at the curb, with Peter going one way toward Happy—who always managed to get there early enough to have a prime spot—and Ned going the other way to find his mom, who—unlike Happy—had another job besides being a babysitter/bodyguard/chauffer to a teenage boy.

Peter hurried down the school stairs, Ned following dutifully just behind him. Although they didn't cross paths that often, Peter knew Ned had interacted with Happy enough to be cognizant of the fact that the man didn't like to be kept waiting.

When they got to the car, Peter opened the door and ushered Ned inside before Happy could get out and open it for him. This was a battle they had been fighting for quite some time. For some reason, sometimes Happy felt the need to behave like they merely had a professional employer-employee relationship—like Peter hadn't ran to the man in tears after a nightmare multiple times when Peter was younger and Happy was babysitting him while Rhodey was away (or even longer ago when it had been his dad who was away).

But that was Happy for you. He didn't like to admit his feelings, even though they both knew they existed. Happy loved Peter like a nephew and Peter loved him back like an uncle.

Nevertheless, the door tango continued nearly every day, but recently, Peter was almost always quicker than Happy (thanks Spidey powers), so unless he was feeling particularly lazy one day, he could usually beat him to the punch so to speak.

Anyway, Ned complied with wide eyes, crawling into the backseat as Peter got in after him and closed the door behind them, managing—with some luck—to do so fairly gently.

Happy looked back at them via the review mirror. "Dropping Ted off today, are we?" Happy commented casually as he made to start the car, like he didn't know Ned's name. (He knew Ned's name. Happy knew _everyone_ who so much as blinked at Peter. Honestly, he probably knew Ned's social security number.)

"It's Ned. You know this. And no, actually, he's coming over." Peter said trying to keep his voice casual like it was no big deal, while beside him Ned's eyes widened even more.

For obvious reasons, Ned had never been to the tower. Ned had been to his Memaw's apartment on occasion. Peter had a room there, so sometimes they would have sleepovers or just hang out for a while, but never too often because they always have to make sure that certain photos are put away, so that Ned doesn't figure out that _the_ Colonel Rhodes is his uncle or that Tony Stark was his father.

Happy paused, no longer making an effort to leave the pick-up line. Putting his hand on the back of the passenger seat, he turned in his chair to look back at Peter, one eyebrow raised, "Your uncle know that?"

"Yes." Said Peter quickly. _Too_ quickly. Dammit.

"Right. So, you won't mind if I call him to confirm that?" Happy replied, but didn't pull out his phone because they both knew Peter was lying.

"Fine. No, he doesn't know. But Ned's my _friend_ , Happy. My _best_ friend. I should be allowed to have friends over." Peter retorted. This was an argument he had had for as long as he could remember—until he'd given up that is—even back when his dad was alive, but back then, he didn't really understand why he couldn't have friends over like everyone else. He understood now, but Ned was his best friend since forever. It was more than time.

"Not without your uncle's approval you're not." Said Happy firmly and then more gently. "Sorry kid."

"Come on Happy! I'll take the blame. You won't get in trouble, I swear. Please! _Pleeeease!_ " Peter implored leaning forward and using his best puppy dog eyes, which always worked when he was younger, but seemed to fail him more often these days.

"Stop that. I know what you're trying to do. But I don't make the rules, short-stuff. I just enforce them. And this is a _big_ rule. So I can give Ned a ride home, but he's not coming over _until_ your uncle clears it."

Peter sat back in his seat, arms crossed. "You shouldn't enforce a rule if it's a stupid one. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone followed that mentality. Ned's. Coming. Over."

"Ned, out of the vehicle for a moment." Said Happy turning his eyes on Ned for the first time, who grew even more anxious under his gaze.

"Y-yes, sir." Said Ned quickly grabbing at the door handle and opening the door.

"No, Ned. Stay." Said Peter reaching over and pulling the door shut again.

"Peter." Said Happy in his no-nonsense voice. "Ned needs to get out of the vehicle so we can have a _conversation_."

Peter and Happy glared at each other, both of their nostrils flaring. Peter could practically feel Ned's eyes darting back and forth between them.

" _Fine_." Said Peter caving under the force of Happy's gaze. "Give us a moment, Ned, but _don't_ go _anywhere_."

"O-okay." Said Ned quickly exiting the vehicle and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

**Ned POV**

Was this real? If someone had told him this morning that he was going to find out that his best friend was keeping like the biggest secret of the century, he would never have believed them. First and foremost because Peter was _not_ a good liar.

Example: when they were younger and pretending to be Jedi—not that they did that _anymore_ —he and Peter had broken one of his mom's antique lamps. Ned had begged Peter just to say they had nothing to do with it, that it was the cat or something (even though they didn't actually have a cat at the time), but the moment his mom came rushing into the living room at the sound of the crash, Peter had blurted out that it was all his fault and he was so _so_ sorry.

So yea, secret keeper, Peter Parker was not.

But that's just because of the kind of person Peter was—a _good_ person. And Ned loved him for that, even if it meant no more Jedi fights in the living room, and no tv for a week.

So, no, Ned hadn't suspected Peter of being Spider-Man, but like, who would? Peter was about half the size of Ned—of most people in their class really—was not athletic at _all,_ and had horrible asthma, but now that Ned thought about it, he hadn't seen his friend use his inhaler in quite some time.

Ned glanced back at the sleek Audi in front of him. Peter and Mr. Hogan were still arguing. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but at one point, Peter appeared in the front passenger seat, having somehow wiggled his way through the partition from the backseat to the front of the vehicle.

He was using a lot of hand gestures, but Mr. Hogan looked as stoic (and scary) as ever. Eventually Peter lowered his hands and Ned could tell that he was admitting defeat. His guess was confirmed moments later when Peter emerged from the vehicle.

"So, change of plans. You aren't coming over _today,_ but if I have anything to say about it, you _will_ be coming over _tomorrow_. And you can stay the night and everything since it'll be Friday. I just have to talk to my uncle about it first." Said Peter rolling his eyes for good measure.

" _Really?_ " Ned asked letting himself get excited again, but trying to temper it because Ned had never been to Peter's home, or even met his uncle for that matter. He never really thought it was that weird. He knew Peter lived somewhere in downtown Manhattan, so it just made more since to hang out at Ned's place or Peter's grandma's apartment in Queens. Plus, Peter's uncle was in the military, so he traveled a lot. Ned knew that much, and Ned was pretty sure Peter spent a lot of time with his grandma or even just with Mr. Hogan, though he didn't know where he lived either.

Ned also knew that Peter's _uncle_ wasn't _technically_ his uncle. Of course, the man was Peter's uncle in all the ways that matter. He knew Peter loved him just by the way he talked about him, and he knew his uncle had to be a great guy because, well, Peter was _amazing_ and the man had been raising him like his own for as long as Ned had known his friend. _But_ Peter was about the whitest kid Ned knew, and well, his grandma wasn't, so unless some rare genetic thing had happened there—which he supposed was possible given the fact that apparently spider mutations could happen—it was pretty obvious that Peter wasn't related to his uncle by blood, but that obviously didn't matter to Peter—nor should it—and that didn't matter to Ned either.

Still, it only added to the mystery that was Peter's home life.

What Ned _did_ know was that either Peter's dad or Peter's uncle (or maybe both?) were pretty well-off. They had to be to be able to afford a place downtown, _plus_ a driver (high-class babysitter?) and a sleek car. But Peter never flaunted the fact that he had money, or used it to make friends, like Flash. He almost seemed embarrassed by the fact to be honest, or at least somewhat guilty of the fact that he had money and some people didn't; though most people at Mid-town made a decent living sure, and Mrs. Rhodes apartment was nice, but pretty comparable to Ned's place, but not everyone had their own driver _or_ a new Stark phone immediately after it was released.

And yet, Ned still found Peter doing things like dumpster diving. Really, one day he _literally_ found Peter in a dumpster, and when asked him what the heck he was doing besides trying to contract the bubonic plague, he just grinned sheepishly and said he had spotted an old computer that he thought would be fun to take apart and mess around with. So yea, Peter was far from a snotty rich kid, but he was still pretty clearly a rich kid.

But still, Ned would be lying if he said he wasn't _extremely_ curious about finally seeing where Peter lived and maybe even meeting his mysterious uncle.

"Yes, really." Peter replied, cutting into Ned's internal excitement, which he had by this point failed to keep in check. "Like I said, I have to talk to my uncle about it, but I'm not taking no for an answer this time, so bring your overnight stuff to school tomorrow. Okay?"

"Yes! Sure! Oh my god, Peter! This is so exciting!" Ned exclaimed, not really catching the part about Peter 'not taking no for an answer this time.'

"Okay, okay. Calm down." Said Peter with an embarrassed smile. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?"

Ned just nodded excitedly as Peter climbed back into the vehicle, his body hidden by the tinted windows, but Ned waved goodbye enthusiastically anyway for a good minute, unable to decide if today was the best day of his life, or if _tomorrow_ would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May the Fourth be with you!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I've mentioned this before, but in this universe Rhodey was hurt during Civil War but not as badly as in canon. He was still hurt bad enough to require significant medical treatment and PT to get back to close to normal, but not so bad as to be unable to walk again without Tony Stark-made leg braces. Okay, that is all. Please enjoy the chapter!

**Rhodey POV**

Rhodey treasured family dinners with Peter. Although he'd cut back significantly on work-related travel since becoming Peter's guardian, it still felt as though every year that Peter grew older, he had more activities and, when combined with Rhodey's career, family dinners—though fairly frequent—were still too few.

But tonight, by the time dinner rolled around, Rhodey could tell that something was on Peter's mind. The kid was fidgeting and picking at his food, which—at least as to the latter—was definitely not the norm. As soon as Peter became a teenager, he had also pretty much become a human vacuum when it came to food, especially in the last few months or so. It was a good thing that money would never be an issue for either of them because _boy_ that kid could eat. And Rhodey had no idea where he put it all. Sure the kid was growing up (too quickly in Rhodey's opinion), but he was still a shrimpy little thing, much like his dad had been at 14.

That last thought sent a familiar twinge through Rhodey's heart—the twinge that came whenever his thoughts strayed to his old friend. More often than not, nowadays, it was a happy twinge. It had taken a long time before his memories of Tony brought more joy to his heart than they did sadness, but even so, recently, the twinge had tipped toward the sad and painful side again.

And it was obvious to Rhodey why that was.

Peter was 14 now, the same age Tony had been when Rhodey had met him. And sometimes, when Peter wandered out of his room in the morning, eyes still glazed with sleep and hair a mess, there would be a moment when Rhodey would almost forget the past 30ish years and think he was back at MIT. It would remind him of all the times Tony had finally stumbled out of bed after crashing from having stayed awake for over 24-hours working on some project that was probably not even remotely related to school, or on the worst nights, from sneaking out to a party he was much too young to attend.

But then Rhodey would remember; remember, that his friend was gone . . .

But Rhodey still had this piece of Tony left in the form of his amazing nephew who was _so much_ like his father it was scary sometimes, but who was also completely his own person. But as Peter entered his teenage years, it had never been more obvious to Rhodey that Peter was Tony's kid.

Of course, the fact that Peter was Tony's kid had always been obvious to _Rhodey,_ but now it was truly becoming physically apparent.

Every year, Peter seemed to look just a _little_ bit more like his father. Honestly, it was kind of getting to be more and more of a miracle that no one realized Peter was Tony Stark's son. If anyone had even an _inkling_ of suspicion about who Peter's father was and thought to compare Peter to photos of a teenaged Tony . . . well, their relation would be hard to deny. But hopefully, if all went according to plan, no one would think to make that comparison, at least not until they intentionally brought it to the world's attention.

No, that wouldn't happen. For now, Peter was not Peter _Stark_. He was simply Peter _Parker_. Just a normal—but exceptionally bright—kid.

It had always been the plan to give Peter a normal childhood because that was _Tony's_ plan before it was Rhodey's. One day Peter would step into the spotlight, but Rhodey hoped that was years away.

Tony had envisioned keeping Peter a secret from the public until he was through college—at least undergrad, if not grad school or any PhDs the kid wanted to pursue—and then maybe even a couple of years after that depending on how quickly Peter blew through the programs. Lord knew he could knock out college level work as easily as Tony had if he wanted to. Regardless, even if Peter didn't want to take over Stark industries when he grew up, it would be good for him to have some time to establish himself as his own person without all the expectations of being Tony Stark's son. It was hard enough being a young adult fresh out of college without Iron Man's legacy hanging over your head.

Of course once Peter turned eighteen, Rhodey _technically_ wouldn't be able to stop the kid if he wanted to reveal his identity, but although they hadn't discussed it recently, he thought that Peter's plan aligned with Rhodey's, and thus, ultimately aligned with Tony's, which was a good thing because, again, Rhodey didn't really think 18 was old enough to be thrust into the spotlight. It still seemed terribly young to Rhodey, who—on some days, especially when his legs or back were smarting—was painfully aware of his own status as a middle-aged man.

No, 18 was not that much older than 14 really, a fact which brought Rhodey back to the present and to the 14-year-old kid sitting across from him who wasn't acting _quite_ like his usual cheerful-self.

"Peter." Rhodey said carefully, which caused Peter to divert his focus from half-heartedly chasing a pea across his plate to his uncle's questioning gaze. "What's on your mind kiddo?"

Rhodey expected Peter to deny that anything was the matter, as was his usual tactic. The kid was so selfless; he never wanted to burden anyone else with his problems, so typically Rhodey had to pry them out of him.

But surprisingly, this time, that didn't happen. Instead, Peter set his fork on the table, and he put his hands on either side of his plate, face determined.

Peter took a deep breath, looked right at Rhodey and said, "I want to have Ned over."

Rhodey let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. Of _course_ Peter could have Ned over. That was all he was worrying about? Peter could have Ned over to his mother's place almost anytime. He guessed the kid was just hesitant to ask in part perhaps because Rhodey had been busy the past few weekends, so they hadn't spent much time together recently, but more likely because his mom had been having some memory issues lately. Nothing so bad that she couldn't live on her own, not yet, but it had come to the point where they had to have a nurse checking in on her once a week, and Rhodey had taken to calling her every day. But she was still capable—and more than happy—to have her favorite (and only) grandson over.

"Of course, Peter. You know Mom loves Ned almost as much as she loves you. I'll just have to check in make sure she's feeling up for it, but she's been good this week. I don't think a sleepover would be a good idea, but I think a couple of hours after school would be f—"

" _No_." said Peter shaking his head. "I want to have Ned over _here_."

Okay. So Rhodey had not been expecting _that._ From what he knew of Ned, the boy was a great kid. A great _friend_. And Peter didn't have very many of those, so Rhodey had always been grateful for the kid, but just because Ned was a good friend didn't mean he should know Peter's true identity.

Not yet anyway.

"Peter . . ." Rhodey started sympathetically. "You know that can't happen."

"No. It just _hasn't_ happened. It _can_ definitely happen." Said Peter unconsciously picking up his fork again and gesturing with it.

"Peter. I know it's been a while, but we've had this conversation before. It's not happening. You're not telling, Ned." Said Rhodey firmly, thinking it would end the conversation as it had so many times before. Peter had always been reasonable, even as a teenager, but Rhodey should have known that wouldn't last. He did have 50% of his father's DNA after all.

"Why not!?" said Peter slamming his hands down on the table hard enough to make their glasses shake. "I've known Ned for for-ev-er!"

"Less than a decade is not forever, kiddo." Replied Rhodey gently, though he supposed to a 14-year-old that seven years did feel like forever. "And you know why. It could put you in danger, kid."

"Okay, fine. Not forever." Peter admitted, bringing his voice back down to a more conversational level as he attempted to speak calmly. "But I've still known Ned for a really _really_ long time. I trust him. I know _you_ trust him too. You had Happy do a background check on him and his parents _years_ ago. Heck, you guys did a background check on his _neighbors_. Ned is a _good_ person—no, a _great_ person! He wouldn't endanger because he would never tell anyone who I am if I asked him not to. So why?! _Why_ can't I tell him?"

"It's not that simple, Peter." Rhodey said with a sigh.

"Yes! It is!" Peter snapped, raising his voice again, though he was clearly trying hard not to.

"No Peter. It's really not." Said Rhodey not unkindly. "Of course I trust Ned. But he's still a teenager, and I hate to break it to you, but you guys don't always have the best impulse control. I don't think he would ever betray your trust on _purpose_ , but telling Ned would just be opening up a new avenue for someone to exploit."

"I don't care!" said Peter. "I'll risk it. People are going to find out eventually."

"Yes. That's true, but do you really want them to find out _now_? When you're still in high school, dealing with first crushes and first dates and just . . . _hormones_ in general? Look, kiddo, I know this is hard for you." _Life's_ been hard for you. "I get it, but—"

"Do _you_?" Peter asked setting his fork down in favor of gripping his water glass tightly with one hand, as if it were a conduit into which he could channel all his pent-up emotions. "You get to go out and be yourself—Colonel. James. Rhodes. I have to go out and be the little loser Pen—Peter Parker. Every. Single. Day. And it's—it's not that I _want_ people to know who I am because when that happens, I know my life won't ever be my own again, or at least not the same. I _get_ that. I _do_. And I don't want that yet. I like my life. I like anonymity for the most part, but I have to listen to people talk about Tony Stark—about _my_ father— _all_ the time. I have to listen the good _and_ the bad _—All. The. Time_. And I can't say anything about how they're missing the most important parts. The parts where he was a hero, not because of what he did or who he was for the _world_ but because of who he was and what he did for me. Because he was my dad. And yea he had his flaws, but he was still a fucking great dad. And if I—if I could just have _one_ person to talk to about everything, it wouldn't be so bad, and—"

Maybe Peter would've continued, but the moment he finished that last statement, suddenly, the glass in his hand shattered and they both flinched back in surprise.

For a moment, they both sat frozen, clouded by Peter's emotional tirade and the shock of the unexpected explosion of glass, but then Rhodey came to his senses.

"Peter!" Rhodey exclaimed hurrying to his feet and rushing around the table to the boy, where he quickly grabbed Peter's hand, examining it for injuries.

"It's—I'm fine. It didn't cut me. Must've already been chipped or something. Sorry." Peter mumbled, attempting to pull his hand away from Rhodey's grasp, but Rhodey held firm until he confirmed that Peter's hand was indeed free from any cuts.

Then, mindful of any potential shards of glass, Rhodey kneeled in front of his boy. Because he was _his_ , not that Rhodey was trying to replace Peter's father—he could never do that even if he tried—but this kid, _his_ kid was his whole world now.

"I'll clean it up." Peter said not looking at Rhodey, making to rise out of his chair.

"Kid, wait. The glass isn't going anywhere, and I don't care about that. I care about _you_. Besides, we need to continue this conversation." Rhodey said quickly keeping Peter in his seat. "I didn't know this was getting to you so much. I know this has to be hard, and I know you don't always want to talk to us old folks, but you have Harley too, so I thought—"

"Harley's great, Rhodey," said Peter cutting him off, "but I only see him once or twice a year, not nearly enough to really talk about . . . I don't know, just stuff I want to talk about. Plus, he's four years older than me, 1000 miles away at MIT, and super busy with his own life. I don't want to bother him. He's still my friend, but Ned's my _best_ friend, who I see almost every day, and he doesn't even know who I _am_. N-not really."

To Rhodey's dismay, as he finished, tears started to roll down Peter's face. He hastily tried to wipe them away, but Rhodey placed both his hands on the boy's shoulder, somewhat forcing him to look him in the eye. "I just want to keep you safe, kiddo."

Peter nodded. The tears slowed, and Peter did manage to wipe them away with the back of his hand, but their tracks still showed on his face "I know, Rhodey, but, I'm not a little kid anymore. You can't protect me from everything forever. I know you feel responsible for everything that goes wrong in my life because you promised my dad you'd look out for me, but—"

"Peter! That is _not_ why I look out for you. It's true that I promised your dad that I would look after you if anything ever happened to him, of _course_ I did, but that's not the _only_ reason I feel responsible for you, Peter. I feel responsible for you, and I _am_ responsible for you, because I care about you, and _not_ just because your dad was my best friend. I care about you because you're _you._ You're amazing, smart, kind and—"

"I know." Said Peter once more cutting him off, "not about me being amazing and stuff, I mean. I don't know about all that, but, I know you care about me. I know I'm not just some obligation, but I also know that _this_ " Peter gestured to himself "was never the plan. _I_ was never the plan. I wasn't in _dad's_ plans and that's fine, because he was my dad, and I know that ultimately didn't end up mattering. But even if that's true, you weren't supposed to be responsible for me 24/7. You weren't supposed to be responsible for me _period._ You were supposed to get to be my cool fun uncle . . . not my parent."

Rhodey attempted to speak, ready to take his turn cutting Peter off before he went down this absurd train off thought, but Peter shook Rhodey's hands of his shoulder and held up his own, signifying for him to wait.

"Don't. I know what you're going to say, or at least the gist of it—that it doesn't matter, that you're happy to get the chance to parent me, even though obviously you didn't want to at the expense of my dad. But I know a lot of other things too. I know you don't really date because of _me_. I know Memaw moved across the country, away from all her friends because of _me_. I know you took a step back from your career because of _me_. I know Happy did the same. I know the only reason Pepper didn't is because she knew she was the only one my dad trusted to run the company. I know it's not my fault. I'm not stupid. I _know_ that. I know it's not dad's fault either, or anyone's really, but sometimes . . ." Peter shrugged, looking down at his feet, and letting out a soft sigh, "sometimes I just feel like an inconvenience."

Rhodey took a deep breath, forcing himself to keep his emotions in check, because it wouldn't do any good to have Peter think he was in anyway upset with _him_ , and even if Peter were right that they had all made some sacrifices after Tony's death, Peter certainly wasn't to blame for that, but . . . there _was_ someone to blame; though of course Rhodey couldn't tell Peter that. Not yet anyway. Maybe not ever. "Peter. Listen to me. You are _not_ an inconvenience. Never. You are the _furthest_ thing from an inconvenience. You are, and always will be, the best part of my life." Said Rhodey lifting his chin up so he had to look at him. "It's important to me that you know that."

Peter nodded, but nevertheless, the boy's eyes darted from Rhodey's face to somewhere behind him, as if he were afraid that if he looked Rhodey in the eye for too long, he would find some indication that what he had said was false.

Rhodey sighed. "Okay."

"Okay?" asked Peter uncertainly and confused. "Okay, what?"

Rhodey took a deep breath, still anxious about the whole thing and hoping to God that he wasn't making a huge mistake, but he couldn't have his kid so upset that he was somehow angry enough to break a dinner glass and insecure enough to have even a _teaspoon_ of doubt about how Rhodey felt about him. "You can tell Ned."

Peter blinked at him in shock for a moment before getting his wits about him again "R-really?!"

He looked so eager and hopeful, like an excited puppy or . . . . like Tony after Rhodey had agreed to go see some obscure science thing with him.

"Really, kiddo. You make good points. You're a natural debater."

"Oh my god! Thank you uncle Rhodey!" Peter said practically jumping out of his seat and giving him a near bone-crushing hug.

Rhodey returned the hug, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Peter had been like a spider-monkey when he was little, constantly showering those he knew well in hugs, but as he grew older and more independent, the hugs had come fewer and further between. So now, Rhodey wanted to hold him just a little while longer, and tell him everything would be okay, even though he'd never been able to make that promise to Peter before because the one time it would have really mattered, Rhodey failed to keep that promise.

Thus, though Peter let the hug go on longer than normal, eventually, because Rhodey was the one who needed the hug in that moment more so than Peter, all too soon Peter pulled away.

"I'm going to go text Ned right now! Can I text Ned right now? Can I _tell_ Ned right now? Not about being dad's kid," said Peter quickly, "obviously, that's in-person news. I'm just going to text him that he can come over, if that's okay? I promise to come back out and help clean up dinner and—he . . . he can come over, right? I know you said I could tell him, but that means he can come here too, doesn't it?"

"Yes, that is what that means . . ." Rhodey trailed off, enjoying seeing his kid so happy. And the kid was happy now, thank goodness for that. Rhodey couldn't take any more tears tonight. Peter was so excited he was practically vibrating, and again, Rhodey had a flashback to a young Tony hyped up on coffee and some sugary snack, practically bouncing off the walls as he showed him Dum-E for the first time.

"But Pete, listen." Rhodey continued finally as he got back on his feet.

"Huh? Yea, I am! I am listening!" said Peter beaming up at him.

Rhodey couldn't help but smile back, but he managed to maintain some semblance of seriousness, because this _was_ serious and he had to be the one to remember that. "I'm going to talk with Ned, after you tell him. Just him and me. Before the weekend is over, we're going to have a one-on-one. It's my job to make sure he understands the gravity of the knowledge being imparted on him. And, of course, Pepper and the lawyers will insist that he sign an NDA, so that's got to happen too. Understand? Repeat what I just said."

"H-he has to talk with you. One-on-one. And sign an NDA agreement! Please, please can I go text him now?" Peter exclaimed, his excitement reaching a boiling point, but Rhodey had to admit that he did get the gist of what Rhodey had said correct.

"Alright, good job, kiddo. Go schedule your little playdate."

Peter scrunched up his face in fake annoyance at Rhodey for his choice of words, but he quickly dissolved into gratitude once again.

"Thanks—thanks again, Rhodey." Said Peter getting little choked up. And then, after a moment he smiled once more, "But you're wrong about one thing. I _suck_ at debating. I know I don't have to take it until Junior year, but speech is definitely going to be my worst class."

And on that note, Peter practically skipped out of room.

Rhodey just shook his head fondly at the boy. He had much more of Tony's charm in him than he could ever know. Given time, and when he was ready, it would shine through.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are folks. The moment you've all (or maybe just me) have been waiting for! Fyi, I feel like I've been unexpectedly been doing pretty well with updating this story compared to my usual speed, but, for reasons, I'm going to have start sharing my computer with someone for a while, so I don't know how that will impact my updating speed.

**NED POV**

It should have seemed weirder than it did that Ned had never been to his best friend's home, but that was just the way it had always been that, by now, it felt almost completely normal.

But that didn't mean that Ned wasn't _super_ excited about finally going over to his best friend's place and meeting his elusive uncle. Quite the opposite in fact. Ned was _ecstatic._ In the course of two days, Ned had found out his best friend was Spider-Man, and now, he was going to go over to said best friend's home!

It was crazy.

Ned's life was crazy.

_Peter's_ life was crazy.

Speaking of Peter, he wasn't _nearly_ as excited as Ned was. Although Peter had seemed really excited at first, as the day wore on, Peter seemed to grow incredibly anxious, maybe even as anxious as he had been when Ned found out that he was Spider-Man, except this time, he was trying to hide it behind small smiles and conversation-appropriate nods.

But his friend's tell-tale foot jiggling and the constant way he grasped his left forearm with his other hand so tightly that his knuckles turned white told a different story. The latter tick was something Ned noticed was a perpetual habit of Peter's that he remembered Peter doing whenever he was nervous from the very earliest days of their friendship. It constantly made Ned want to grab Peter's hand and pull it away from himself because his grip always looked so painful, and now, knowing that Peter was Spider-Man, Ned was actually somewhat worried that Peter might one day inadvertently break his own arm. But if Ned hadn't been able to break Peter of the habit in all their years of friendship, then he certainly wouldn't be able to today.

To a certain extent, he understood why Peter was nervous. He was about to share a part of his life that up to that point had been separate from their friendship. But he did not understand why Peter was _so_ nervous. If Peter liked his uncle, then Ned would to. It was as simple as that. And it wasn't like Peter could be nervous about showing Ned the squalor state of his home. Along with a number of other tells, Mr. Hogan's vehicle of choice was evidence enough that that wouldn't be the case.

Peter's nervousness was also in stark contrast to his determination yesterday when he'd asked Mr. Hogan about Ned coming over, or more like he'd _told_ Mr. Hogan that Ned was coming over. That tactic obviously hadn't worked out, but Ned had been impressed by Peter's unexpected show of confidence all the same. Though, maybe the reason Peter hadn't been nervous about him coming over yesterday was because deep down he knew that Ned wouldn't actually be able to until it was cleared by Peter's uncle first.

But today, it was actually happening. Like really _truly_ happening. Ned had his overnight bag in his locker and everything, which he had packed and repacked at least three times last night not wanting to forget anything he needed for the memorable weekend ahead. Because it was going to be memorable, but not even in his wildest dreams could he have guessed quite how memorable it would be.

* * *

It felt like an eternity to Ned, but eventually the last bell rang and he once again found himself in the back of Mr. Hogan's Audi, or well, Ned supposed it was Peter's (or technically Peter's uncle's) Audi. Whatever, it didn't matter, the important thing was that he was there and he wasn't getting kicked out this time.

After a sharp 'seatbelts' from the front seat, Mr. Hogan didn't say much else, and not too much later he rolled up the partition—which dude, how cool!—clearly not caring to listen to Ned's very manly squeals of excitement or his constant chatter thanking Peter for having him over, and asking him all about his home and uncle without getting much more of a response out of Peter than he had out of Mr. Hogan.

"So you live in downtown Manhattan?" Ned asked Peter eagerly, even though by this point in the journey they were pretty much there anyway, and Ned already knew this. Even though his parents trusted Mrs. Rhodes and Mr. Hogan—having met both at various school events and parent-teacher conferences—enough to let Ned finally go over to Peter's place even without a specific address or having met Peter's uncle. They still probably wouldn't have let Ned go if he hadn't been able to give them even a vague idea of where he would be, but anyway, he still couldn't help asking. He was just doing anything he could to confirm that this was really happening.

"Yes, Ned." Said Peter with a bit of an eyeroll, which Ned was happy to see because it meant some of the anxiety Peter had felt had dissipated, or at least, Ned had distracted Peter enough from it. "You know this already. That isn't a secret."

"Yea, yea. Okay. I knew that. Sorry, man. This is just super exciting." And again, yes, he had known that. But it was still a bit weird to think about. With Peter's grandma, their school, _and_ not to mention Spider-Man's presence there, Peter just seemed as much at home in Queens as anyone. But technically, Peter _was_ from Queens. Though he didn't talk about his early life much, from what he had told Ned, Peter's mom was from Queens, and he'd lived with her there when he was a baby and then a little longer with his uncle (a different one than Mr. Rhodes) after she'd died, until he too had passed away. Or to be more accurate, his uncle (the dead one) had been killed right in front of baby Peter, though fortunately, Peter had been too young to remember it.

Really, his friend had had some pretty awful luck in life. Thank goodness that last detail hadn't turned him into a Dexter-like character. With his new-found spidey powers that would _not_ have been a good combination.

Ned shivered. Fortunately, present excitement pulled Ned out of his gloomy ruminating. "Peter! Stark Tower is just ahead! Oh my god, do you live close to Stark Tower? _How_ close do you live to Stark Tower?"

"Um . . . actually . . ." Peter said awkwardly trailing off just as, to Ned's amazement, their car turned into a garage entrance that was unmistakably under the entrance to Stark Industries.

"No. Way." Said Ned, eyes widening. "You live _in_ Stark Tower! I didn't even know they had apartments here! I thought after Tony Stark died they made all of the floors Stark Industries related."

"Yea, that's what most people think." Said Peter with an oddly sad look on his face as he gazed out the window, even though there was nothing to see except blank cement walls. "But not all of them are for business purposes."

Ned just shook his head in amazement. He assumed either Peter's uncle was rich or his dad had left him a bit money because, well, again look at the car they were in, and having a personal driver to take Peter to and from downtown Manhattan to Queens everyday couldn't be cheap. But he'd never thought that Peter was _this_ rich—i.e., rich enough to afford to live in one of the most famous buildings on earth. Sure, Peter was always offering to pay when they went anywhere—which Ned usually refused to let him do—and buying Ned really expensive birthday and Christmas gifts, but this was beyond anything Ned could have imagined.

An apartment in Stark Towers had to cost a fortune, or maybe even several lifetimes of a fortune.

Ned stared at his friend again, trying not to gawk as Peter began to grasp nervously at his arm once more. Then, before Ned could say anything else, the car came to a stop, and the partition separating Peter and Ned from Mr. Hogan went down once more.

"End of the road, kids." Said Mr. Hogan, as the man got out of the car and opened the door by Pete, who surprisingly waited for him to do so while he grabbed his backpack and—before Ned could protest—Ned's overnight bag and then exited the vehicle. Ned scrambled to grab his backpack as well and then scooted over to follow.

When Ned finally managed to get; out of the vehicle, he was already in awe. In addition to the Audi they'd just exited, there were maybe about 15-ish other vehicles in their immediate area.

Ned looked around taking it all end, and in addition to awe, was a bit confused because he couldn't figure out where they had come from. There was no visible exit that he could see, other than one large fancy looking elevator, big enough to fit a car. But there must have been an entrance around the corner or something. The amazing thing was that almost all of the vehicles were super nice.

Like super- _duper_ nice. Ned didn't know anything about cars, but even he knew that even one of the vehicles had to cost several _years_ ' worth of his parents' paychecks, if not more than that. Some were top-of the line vehicles that hardly looked like they could be out for sale yet and others were fancy retro ones. There were also a few more practical ones like what Mr. Hogan used to pick Peter up in, but even those were nice looking. Ultimately, there was maybe only one car that looked like something his mom or dad might drive.

"Ned." Peter called and when Ned turned around, both he and Mr. Hogan were waiting at the elevator. Peter shifted from foot to foot nervously, while Mr. Hogan just stood there with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised, looking as intimidating as ever.

"S-sorry." Said Ned quickly hurrying over to join them.

As soon as he was inside, the doors slid closed silently behind him.

Before Ned had time to take in the sleek elevator or the fact that he didn't see Peter or Mr. Hogan press any buttons, the doors were sliding back open again, even though Ned was sure they couldn't have moved because he hadn't felt a thing.

Yet, when the doors opened once more, they were indeed in a different location. A _much_ different location.

Peter stepped out of the elevator and Ned followed, mouth falling open in awe, not because of how nice the apartment was (which, with its vaulted ceilings, sleek appliances, and high-end looking art, it definitely was) but because of who was already in it.

There, sitting casually on a large wrap-around couch with a laptop on his lap, was none other than Colonel Rhodes, aka War Machine.

"Peter." Ned whispered, hitting Peter's chest with the back of one hand. "War Machine is in your living room."

If Ned hadn't been so focused on Colonel Rhodes, he may have noticed the photos in the room. Like one of a man with his son on his shoulders, both individuals who—for very different reasons—Ned would have immediately recognized, which may have made what came later, less of a shock.

For some reason, Peter did not seem shocked by presence of an ex-Avenger in his living room. Instead, after a quick nervous glance over at Ned, Peter basically ignored him and addressed the Colonel directly but without any of the nervous energy Ned expected.

"Hey, I thought you had meetings all afternoon." Said Peter casually, and not at all like a fanboy meeting one of his childhood heroes.

"I do." Said Colonel Rhodes closing his laptop, tucking it under his arm and rising to his feet to walk toward the two boys. "And I have to head to another one now, but I may or may not have skipped out on the last one a few minutes early because I wanted to be here when you got home."

The man had advanced across the room, so that he stood in front of Peter, Ned, and Happy as he finished speaking, smiling down at Peter with a relaxed familiarity, and a small smile tugged at the corners of Peter's lips in response as well. He turned his gaze on Ned, and the boy could only stare, completely star-struck and utterly confused. But either not sensing Ned's astonishment or merely unperturbed by it, Colonel Rhodes stuck out his hand to Ned and continued.

"Hi Ned. I'm Peter's uncle James Rhodes, but you can call me Rhodey. Peter's told me a lot about you over the years. I'm sorry it took so long for us to meet."

Not fully comprehending the Colonel's words, but having enough presence of mind to realize it was rude to keep the Colonel's hand dangling in front of him much longer, Ned dropped his bag and reached out and shook the man's hand. Or, more like, Colonel Rhodes did the shaking and Ned just kind of let his hand be taken through the motion because in that moment, Ned was lucky to have enough motor function to do as much as make contact with the man's hand. The whole time he was thinking 'what the hell is happening!?'

"H-hi. I'm Ned." Ned squeaked out, realizing a second later that the Colonel had already addressed him by name, and obviously knew who he was. But instead of being annoyed, the Colonel seemed to find Ned's reply amusing.

"Right. It's very nice to meet you, _Ned_. Sorry I can't stick around, but we'll talk more later." Said Colonel Rhodes—Rhodey—as he ruffled Peter's hair—much to the boy's chagrin—and gave Peter a pointed looked before stepping into the elevator to join a waiting Mr. Hogan. "Peter, don't blow anything up while I'm gone."

Peter rolled his eyes. "That was _one_ time. _One. And_ it was like at _least_ a year ago."

"By my count that happened at least _three_ times, and one was last month." Rhodey shot back, but good-naturedly enough.

"Okay. I'll admit to a _minor_ explosion last month, but that didn't even break anything. And the second time, Dum-E and U were both at least 25% at fault each, so that doesn't count. So, like I said, _one_ time."

Rhodey just chuckled. "If we have to get into percentages of fault, then I think we both know I'm right, and Happy will back me up on this. But either way, keep the experimenting to a minimum for my peace of mind today kiddo, okay? Please?"

"Okay. Okay. See ya Rhodey. Bye Happy." Said Peter giving them both a lazy wave as Ned stood shock-still beside him.

"I'm only a few floors away if you need anything, and I have a lot fewer people vying for my attention than Rhodey here does, so if there's an emergency, don't hesitate to call. If it's not an emergency, please _do_ hesitate to call. I don't need to deal with _two_ teenagers." Said Happy pausing before finishing. "Later, kid. Ted."

Peter nodded but rolled his eyes at the same time. "Guys, we'll be fine. Don't worry, I won't interrupt your Downtown Abbey time, Happy."

Mr. Hogan glared at Peter at that retort, but didn't comment further.

"Alright, well, bye boys. I'll be back around" Rhodey glanced at his watch, "6:30, and I'll have Happy pick up whatever you want when I'm wrapping things up, Peter, so just let him know what you decide, but Ned, please help yourself to anything in the meantime. And don't let Peter hog all of the snacks. He can be bottomless pit."

With that, the elevator doors slid close once more and about 30 seconds later, Ned finally came to his senses and whipped around to face Peter who was still standing awkwardly beside him with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

"Peter!" Ned nearly shouted, causing Peter to flinch. "Sorry!" Ned quickly apologized, remembering Peter's enhanced senses, "But what the hell?!"

Peter just shrugged his shoulders a bit and gave Ned a hesitant smile. "Surprise?"

" _Surprise!_ Peter! Your uncle is War Machine! And you're Spider-Man! What even is your life?!

Peter just shrugged again.

"I can't believe you never said your uncle—Mr. _Rhodes_ —was _the_ Colonel James Rhodes." Ned repeated still in awe.

"Well . . . I never said he _wasn't_." said Peter with a nervous chuckle. "You just assumed."

Ned nearly rolled his eyes at that. "Dude, did you think I would do something embarrassing if I found out? Is that why you didn't tell me? Because I think I handled myself pretty well. I said actual words and stuff. Didn't even faint. I didn't faint right? I may have blacked out for a second there . . . okay, I didn't do great, but I can do better!"

Peter chuckled but then shook his head frantically. "No Ned. It has nothing to do with you. That's not why at all, and if you're worried about what he thought—not that you should be, Rhodey already thinks you're great—I'm sure you'll get the chance to make up for it later. _More_ than you'll probably want to." Peter finished, muttering the last bit.

"Then why?" Ned asked. "Because this is totally crazy! But it's also friggin' _awesome!_ Like, this is the second best-thing to finding out you're Spider-Man, and I get why you have to keep _that_ a secret. But why hide the fact that he's your uncle? War Machine is famous, but it's not like it was when the Avengers were all still together. He doesn't even do many public appearances anymore, so people might freak out about it for a bit, but like, they'd move on ya know? And how is heeven _your_ uncle!?" Ned paused to take a breath and then realizing how that last bit might have sounded, quickly backtracked. "I just mean—well—he _was_ an Avenger! And now he's your guardian? How does that even happen?"

He always knew that Peter's uncle wasn't really Peter's uncle in the usual sense. Ned had found that out pretty quickly the first time he went over to Peter's grandma's place (who—oh man—he now realized was War Machine's _mom_ and _that_ made Ned see her in a whole new perspective). Not that it mattered, Mrs. Rhodes treated Peter every bit like her grandson, and Ned could tell that Peter adored her as well.

Peter bit his lip, and started clutching his left arm again. Why was he still nervous? His big secret was out, and it was _amazing_.

Peter swallowed. "He—he and my dad were friends."

Ned waited for Peter to continue. But Peter just looked at him like _he_ was expecting Ned to say something and not the other way around, so Ned pressed on. "Okay. They were friends, but like, I'm friends with Abe, but if he died, I don't think he'd leave me his Switch, let alone his kid—if he had any that is. So they had to be _really_ good friends, right?" Friends like Peter and Ned were. "How'd they meet?"

Peter let go of his arm, and started twirling a loose string on the cuff of his sleeve, which was an improvement from the arm-grabbing at least. He made eye contact with Ned, but Ned felt like he was seeing a fight or flight instinct flash behind his friend's eyes, and Ned just didn't understand _why_.

"My uncle met my dad at MIT." Peter said slowly.

"Okay . . ." said Ned a little encouragingly.

"They were roommates." Peter paused but continued when Ned didn't say anything. He was clearly failing to pick up what Peter was putting down. "And then best friends pretty much immediately and for forever after that."

Suddenly Ned picked up on a flaw in Peter's story and was super confused. "But Peter, that can't be true. Colonel Rhodes' one and only roommate at MIT was Tony Stark. Everyone knows that."

Or maybe not _everyone_. But _Ned_ knew that. And anyone as nerdy as him would know too, like Peter for example.

But Peter just stared at Ned, almost exasperated now for some reason. "Yea Ned. I _know_."

Ned just stared at Peter for a moment, because the equation did not immediately compute.

And then it clicked—what Peter had been trying to get through Ned's head. What he maybe should have realized the moment he found out Peter was Spider-Man, or the second he found out that Peter's uncle was War Machine, or maybe even just from staring at Peter's face over the years.

It was simply the transitive property—if A=B and B=C then A=C. I.e., if Tony Stark had one roommate at MIT who was Colonel Rhodes, and Colonel Rhodes had one roommate at MIT who was Peter's father, then Tony Stark _was_ Peter's father.

"Oh. My. God." Said Ned, and if he had been holding anything he certainly would have dropped it. "You're—he—Iron—Stark—" Ned knew he wasn't making any sense. But how could he when this bombshell had just been dropped?

And it _was_ a bombshell, but it also made _So._ Much. Sense. Ned was smart. You had to be to get into Midtown—yea even Flash, admittedly, was probably above average intelligence—but Peter, Peter was on a whole other level.

Peter was a genius, at least when it came to math and engineering stuff. Ned knew Peter could have graduated high school _ages_ ago. Heck, he probably could've graduated _college_ years ago too, if he really wanted to. At one point, after Peter had solved a problem for NASA (yes _that_ NASA) that had been posted online, Ned asked him why his uncle hadn't just had him skip a bunch of grades. Not that Ned wasn't extremely glad he hadn't because life without Peter in it would be monumentally worse. But still, he had been curious. Peter, however, had simply replied that his dad (and he supposed his mom too), had wanted him to have a normal childhood. And normal childhoods didn't involve graduating from high school at the age of 12 or younger. Or going to college before you could even drive. So that had been that. Peter's uncle was just honoring his parents' wishes, and Peter was fine with it, so that's all there was to it.

But sometimes Ned would look over at Peter during class to see his friend frantically taking notes, but only rarely were the notes ever about class. Instead, he was almost always working on something entirely different. And Ned, well he was lucky to understand maybe 10% of it. If Ned did happen to be better at something than Peter, like maybe hacking, it was only because Peter wasn't as interested in it. But if he wanted to, Ned was sure Peter could become an expert in anything overnight.

Just like Tony Stark.

His _father._

"Stop looking at me like that." Said Peter shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. "I'm still the same person."

"But you're also _Tony Stark's_ SON! I have soooo many questions! Do you have an Ironman suit? Do you have _multiple_ Ironman suits? Were those all your cars downstairs? Are you going to take over Stark Industries? Do you bleed red and gold?"

Peter took a deep breath, as if to calm himself, but he only answered Ned's last question. "Just red, Ned. You've seen me bleed. And if that didn't change with the spider bite, it's not going to." Then he ran a hand over his face and turned away hugging his arms across his stomach. "This is why I was afraid to tell you. Being his son . . . it's—it's a part of who I am, yea, but it's _always_ been a part of who I am, even if you didn't know it. I don't want it to change how you see me."

It then hit Ned how callous and insensitive his words must seem to Peter. When they talked about Ironman, they weren't just talking about a dead superhero they both idolized, and for Peter, they never had been.

They were talking about Peter's _dad_. His _dead_ dad.

Ned suddenly felt like the worst friend in the history of the universe.

"I'm sorry, Peter." Said Ned as he came up behind Peter and put a hand on his shoulder, causing the other boy to turn around to look at him again. "Of course it doesn't change anything. You are my best friend. Not because of who your—your dad is, but because of _you_. God, you must hate me for all the times I talked about him so flippantly. And like, I talk about him _a lot_." Ned was impressed by how calm he sounded, but inside he was still geeking about the fact that his best friend was Spider-Man and basically Iron Man Jr. (Iron Boy?).

That seemed to shock Peter out of his misery because he smiled back at his friend. "I don't hate you Ned! I could _never_ hate you! Besides, you've never said anything bad about him, or at least, nothing that wasn't true."

Not like some people.

Peter didn't say that last bit, but he didn't have to. Ned didn't have to think too hard to come up with several examples of people bad-talking Tony Stark. Many media outlets certainly had, despite the fact that he'd also saved the planet multiple times. Some teachers had too, or if not, they'd certainly casually discussed the man's place in history. And heck, last year two kids had done a 'choose your own topic' for a speech competition in which they debated whether Tony Stark's post-Afghanistan acts outweighed the destruction caused by his weapons company and Ultron.

And Peter. He had just taken it. Again and again. He'd defended Tony Stark at times, sure, but only ever as much as Ned had. And only when it was appropriate to do so. He'd never screamed at a teacher for rewriting history or interrupted the kids' debate. He'd just sat there and listened to it all. And how painful that must have been. Must _still_ be. Ned couldn't even begin to imagine.

"Well, now you can tell me all about him, because, you know I think he was amazing. But only if you want to talk about him!" Ned said quickly. And then stuck out his hand.

Ned saw a glimmer of wetness in Peter's eyes, but to Ned's delight, he was smiling. "Of course I want to." Said Peter and he took Ned's hand initiating their iconic handshake, but this time, he ended it with a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh how I love all kinds of identity reveals! In case you didn't catch it, Peter's nervous tick of grabbing his arm is supposed to be based on Tony's somewhat canon tendency to do so. My head-canon for this universe is that Peter always saw Tony grabbing his arm when he was stressed, so he started copying him when he got nervous.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This chapter is aggressively long. Don't get used to it, but please enjoy! Also, as I think I've said before, I'm playing fast and loose with the MCU timeline, since Peter's age doesn't really make sense with the events of Civil War occurring when Peter was much younger, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Ned POV**

After that manly moment, in which absolutely no tears were shed, Peter asked Ned if he wanted a tour of the place, to which of course Ned said ' _Hell_ yes!'

So that's how—after seeing the theater room, Colonel Rhodes's office (they didn't go in Rhodey's bedroom because Ned thought that would be weird, even though Peter said he wouldn't care), a couple of guest bedrooms, the toy room (supposedly it was _Peter's_ office/study, but Ned was just calling it like he saw it, and he was pretty sure if he asked the Colonel, he would agree that it was a toy room)—they ended up in Peter's bedroom. Peter also just _casually_ mentioned that he'd show Ned the pool later, which apparently had its own floor, and that next time he'd remind him to bring his suit so they could go swimming if he wanted to.

But anyway, Peter's bedroom was _very_ Peter, much like Peter's room at Mrs. Rhodes' home was, but this room was _all_ of Peter, including the part of him that Ned didn't know existed until today.

There were Legos in one corner (one fully completed assault Walker and one half-built Hogwarts castle), a Star Wars poster and some Star Wars figurines neatly arranged along a shelf stacked full of books ranging from A Brief History of Time to the complete Harry Potter series, a sleek looking desk with two monitors and a laptop on it, and a sweatshirt tossed haphazardly on the back of its respective chair. There was also a beanbag chair and a bunkbed that looked ten times more expensive than the one in Peter's room at Mrs. Rhodes' place. For starters, both the bottom and the top bunk were at least twice as large (with the bottom one even larger) than a typical bunkbed, plus it had built-in shelving and lighting along the side and the bottom bunk was perpendicular to the top rather than parallel to it. There was also a ginormous walk-in closet, an attached bathroom suite, and floor-to-ceiling windows on one wall.

So yea, the whole ambiance was definitely a step up from what Ned was used to,

but Ned was more or less expecting a room that was grand and expensive looking, so that wasn't what caught his eye. Instead, what drew his attention were much smaller and arguably much less expensive, but just one glance told Ned that to Peter, they were priceless.

These irreplaceable items in question were photographs—some framed throughout the room and others simply pinned on a corkboard above his desk. There were a good many that Ned recognized, but the majority he had never seen before; and he reckoned that _very_ few people had.

Some of the photos were of him and Peter throughout the years, like the one of them hanging out in the robotics club that had been in last year's yearbook and another of young Ned and Peter at Ned's tenth birthday party. There was also one with a woman Ned thought he recognized from other photos from school projects and stuff as Peter's mom. In this particular one, she was holding a little bundle who Ned assumed was a baby Peter. In it, she looked extremely exhausted but Ned could also plainly see the love in her eyes as she smiled down at baby Peter. There were some photos of a couple too that Ned assumed must be Peter's late aunt and uncle, since the guy looked similar to the woman Ned had pegged as Peter's mom.

But beyond that . . . the images were unfamiliar. And if Ned hadn't just found out that his best friend was the son of Tony Stark, they would've been completely mind-boggling—they still were to be honest—but, either way, it was clear that Peter's room was one of the few places where he didn't have to hide who he was, and evidently, he didn't let that opportunity go to waste.

Because there were soooo many photos of Peter with his father—with _Tony Stark_. In one Mr. Stark stood on an otherwise empty beach with a much younger Peter on his shoulders, both were wearing a version of the classic Stark sunglasses; in another Peter had little mini costume iron man gloves on, what looked to be an Iron Man mask tipped back on top of his head, and a wide grin on his face, and Tony Stark was crouched down beside him, an arm around his shoulder, not quite looking at the camera, rather glancing at Peter fondly; the rest were much the same, but with Colonel Rhodes, a slightly less grumpy-looking Happy, Mrs. Rhodes, and—holy shit!—even Pepper Potts interspersed throughout. There was also a couple more recent ones of Peter and a tall gangly looking blond kid that was maybe a few years older than Peter and himself.

Ned, unaware of the fact that Peter was hovering self-consciously just behind him, was just about to ask Peter who the blonde boy was when his eyes settled on a photo of Tony Stark, at what was clearly a New Year's Eve party, with his arm wrapped rather suggestively around a woman. The lighting (or lack thereof) in the photo made it difficult to make out, but Ned could see that Mr. Stark had a sparkly white and gold party hat on his head, a matching tie hanging lopsided and loose around his neck, a drink in his hand, and—if Ned was reading it correctly—a name tag on his chest that simply said 'You know who I am.' Even if the photo's quality left something to be desired, it wasn't difficult for Ned to tell that Mr. Stark was more than a little tipsy in the photo, if not completely drunk, at the time it was taken. The gorgeous woman on his arm looked similarly inebriated with her lopsided "Happy New Year!" headband and what looked to be a pair of Mr. Stark's sunglasses hanging off her noses. Both individuals were also not really looking at the camera, but rather caught mid-laugh, sharing a joke just between the two of them. Ned leaned in a bit, realizing that he recognized the woman from a previous photo too. It was Peter's mom.

Peter's mom with Peter's dad.

At a New Year's Eve party.

And Peter was born in August.

Oh.

 _Oh_.

"Yea," said Peter coming up to stand beside Ned, while he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "I know it's not a great photo, and it's probably weird for me to display it since well, I was the result of the night's later activities but . . ." Peter shrugged blushing. "I don't have any other pictures of them together. Dad saw me and stuff when I was a baby, but it's not like they were buddy-buddy, you know? If he wasn't visiting me, they didn't really hang out together, not that they really could have without someone finding out about me. But, I don't know. It's still nice to have a photo of my parents together, ya know? Normal and whatnot. I think."

"No, yea, I think it's a great photo, Peter. They look . . ." Ned paused searching for a word that fit "really happy." He decided, since 'really drunk' would be super-insensitive, and even if they were, they did look really happy too. That wasn't a lie.

"Yea. I think they probably were." Peter agreed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and clearing his throat before answering lightly. "Alcohol can do that to you I hear . . . anyway, this is my room, obv-i-ous-ly."

Ned frowned momentarily at his friend's noticeable change of topic, but then shook his head and smiled to show that he didn't mind. He wasn't going to press Peter to talk about his dead parents if he didn't want to, not even when one said parent was Tony Stark.

"Yeah! And I _love_ it, Peter! It's so cool!" said Ned looking around again and taking everything in with genuine awe, when something new caught his eye. It was an Iron Man poster. He hadn't noticed it before because it was on the ceiling above the top bunk of Peter's bed rather than on the wall. "Oh my god, Peter! Is that an _original_ Iron Man poster! Duh, Of course it is. Why am I even asking?"

"Oh, um, yep!" Peter said and chuckled a bit. "I think there are a couple more around here somewhere. I can get you one if you'd like."

Ned's eyes widened. "You—what—Yes, yes, I would—I would love that! I mean, if—if it's not too much trouble, or anything, I mean, you already gave me the Stark Expo shirt which I—oh, you definitely didn't buy that on eBay did you?"

"Uhh nope. I found it in some old boxes here, and really, it's not a big deal, Rhodey's always saying we need to clean out old stuff in this place anyway, so if I find another poster, it's all yours." Said Peter smiling as Ned went over to examine the poster more closely. And when he was close enough under it as the bed would allow, he noticed that not only was it an original Iron Man poster, it was also a _signed_ originalIron Man poster, which shouldn't really have been surprising considering, but it still took Ned's breath away at how much it had to be worth nowadays.

Ned squinted, noticing that not only was it signed, but there was a message with it, but when he made it out, he almost wished he hadn't been able to read it because he felt like he was intruding on a private moment between a father and son because that was what it clearly was meant to be:

To my Petey,

You're _MY_ hero _._

Forever and always.

Love,

Dad (Aka Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, aka your favorite person)

Ned looked away quickly and back at Peter who had gone to stare wistfully out one of the floor length windows.

"P-peter?" Ned asked cautiously.

"Hmm?" asked Peter turning around. "Sorry, uh, lost in thought for a second, I guess. Ready to go check out the lab now?"

Ned's eyes widened for probably the 100th time that day, "You have a _lab!"_

* * *

The lab did not disappoint.

It was everything he imagined a Stark Industries lab to be.

No.

It was everything he imagined _Tony Stark's_ lab to be and more.

First, to gain access Peter had to press his hand to an unassuming glass wall that instantly came to life, taking a scan of his hand and pulling up a keypad. Peter entered a chain of numbers in quick succession—too rapidly for Ned to follow—and then, they were in.

The lab was pitch black, so Ned couldn't see inside until Peter walked through the door, but when he did, lights immediately came on and the windows (more giant floor length ones) brightened to reveal the outside sky scrape tinging toward the evening dusk.

There was also a large work area with four monitors on it, a giant flat screen on one wall, a small kitchen area in one corner complete with a see-through fridge stocked to the brim, and a lounge area with a couch that looked so comfortable that if Ned wasn't so excited about the other aspects of the lab, he would've run over and melted into it. There was also, what looked to be a chair/swing contraption that Ned guessed Peter often utilized based on how much he used to love hanging out on the swings during recess, though he guessed neither quite compared to swinging from buildings as Spider-Man.

As Peter walked into the lab—Ned trailing like a loyal duckling behind him—holograms with images of tech Ned couldn't even begin to understand popped up around him. Peter expertly swiped them to the side as they walked with easy confidence and familiarity, even 'grabbing' one, scrunching it into a ball, and tossing it at a hologram target board that had appeared—as if by magic—behind them. It hit the center of the target, dinged, and flashed 'SCORE' before disappearing again.

Ned pinched himself.

Nope. He wasn't dreaming.

As they advanced across the lab, two robots rolled up to meet them chattering—if you could call it that—enthusiastically and gently nudging Peter. "Hi Dum-E. Hey U." said Peter fondly, patting both machines on the head like they were dogs. "Where's LN?"

Suddenly, a round blur with what looked like a t-shirt stuck on the top of it raced toward them beeping and booping as it went. It crashed into Peter's shins and he gave a little oof in response.

"Oh, thanks LN!" said Peter grabbing the t-shirt off the top of the droid.

And that's what it was, a _droid_. It looked almost exactly like BB-8. Like it had walked (or in this case _rolled_ ) straight out of Star Wars, just with a few changes. Instead of BB-8's orange and white color scheme, it was a mix of red and gold.

Just like Iron Man.

"I thought I lost this." Said Peter holding up the t-shirt. It was a typical Peter shirt, dark-colored with a science pun on it—'I LOST AN ELECTRON!' 'ARE YOU POSITIVE?'. Meanwhile, BB-8 circled Peter like an over-eager puppy. "Seriously thanks LN. This is one of my favorites."

Peter tossed it over one shoulder and turned to Ned. "Guys, this is my _best_ friend, Ned. Ned, this is Dum-E, U, and LN."

The robots (droids?) all stopped what they were doing to silently stare at Ned. Ned gulped, suddenly nervous, and raised his hand to give an awkward wave. "Um, hi everyone. Nice to meet you."

Fortunately, that seemed to be enough to win them over, because, just like that, they zoomed over to Ned and started babbling again. Ned giggled and patted each one on the head before they returned to hover around Peter again, this time giving him a little more space, as if they expected him to get to work.

"Dude. Can I just say, thank you for making me a part of your life, and letting me be a part of your journey. This is like, sooo amazing that I think my brain is having a hard time processing."

Peter laughed. "Glad you like it . . . it is one of my favorite places."

"So what _is_ all of this stuff? And did you make them?" asked Ned gesturing to the robots who had retreated to another part of the lab and looked to be playing a game of checkers on a large hologram that hovered between them.

"Well, it is what it looks like. A workshop. A place where I can build things without Rhodey being too terrified that'll I'll blow up the tower, and I only built LN. My dad made Dum-E and U, or sorta made and _re_ -made them I guess, after the whole 'Mandarin' incident, if ah you remember, when the Malibu place was destroyed . . . ."

Ned did remember. He'd been really young, but still it had been all over the news. Everyone had believed Tony Stark had been killed, but he'd surprised them all, so much so, that when Ned had first heard the news of Iron Man's _real_ death, Ned hadn't believed it at first. And it suddenly occurred to Ned to wonder if Peter had had a similar, but far more personal, experience. That is, had he believed his dad was dead both times, and in the latter case, had he held out hope for a time that his dad would reappear again alive and well, only to be heart broken when he never did?

Either way, Ned could tell it wasn't something Peter wanted to get into right now, so he simply expressed his awe in a whisper, "So cool." and then, at a normal volume, "Why did you name him LN and not BB-8. I mean, he looks almost _exactly_ like BB-8?"

"Oh, well, first off, LN prefers she/her pronouns, and um it felt weird giving her the same name as a Star Wars character because, I mean, she's her own being, not a fictional character. And I didn't name her. Not really. She mostly picked it herself. I just helped. She seemed to really want a name that could technically be abbreviated like mine. You know, like PT for Petey. And she liked LN because it could mean both Ellen or natural log, rather than just having one meaning like KT for Katie. "

"Wait. Can you understand her? And Dum-E and U too? Like _truly_ understand them? Like Star Wars?" Ned asked whispering the last bit again.

"Well, not exactly." Said Peter with a shrug. "Dum-E and U don't have a full functioning language. It's more about just interpreting their movements and inflections. And since Binary isn't actually a fully functioning language either—basically, it's just movie producers altering sounds from voice actors—so I made LN's language a combination of Morse code and BB-8's dialogue in the Force Awakens, which actually makes it somewhat understandable. I have to really pay attention to get exactly what she's saying though, but usually it's pretty clear what she means just based on context. If you spend enough time here, you'll get the hang of it."

Ned just stared at his friend in awe, highly doubtful that he would 'just get the hang of' Morse code and beeping and booping simply by hanging around in Peter's lab, no matter how much time he spent there. Sometimes—more like frequently—Peter was truly oblivious to his genius.

Peter didn't notice his staring straight away, distracted by a hologram. He scrutinized it carefully before tossing it away, and looked up to see Ned staring at him.

"What?"

"You are so awesome."

Peter blushed. "Shut up." He said, but there was no real malice behind it and he was smiling.

Ned smiled back and followed Peter over to the main work area. The desk, which had been at table level, rose up to perfectly match Peter's height as he and Ned stood behind it. Now that they were closer, Ned noticed that—just like the corkboard in Peter's room—the lower keyboard level was covered in photos beneath the glass surface. Most of these photos, however, unlike the ones in his room, seemed to have a common theme—they all featured Tony Stark in the midst of working on some project or another, occasionally with an exasperated looking Colonel Rhodes, Mr. Hogan, or Miss Potts in the background. But there were also a few with an excited looking little Peter perched on a table watching or—maybe even helping—his father work.

Peter put his hand on top of the desk and the screens lit up, but Ned's attention was drawn away from them at the sound of a disembodied voice.

"Welcome back Mini Boss. Hello Mr. Leeds." Said a calming female voice.

"What?! Who's that?" asked Ned looking around. "Is that an AI?!" he asked excitedly.

"Yep. That's F.R.I.D.A.Y." replied Peter matter-of-factly, you know, like it was a very common thing to have an AI in one's home. "She's everywhere in the tower, and if you have proper authorization, she'll respond to you if you ask her to do something, but I kinda thought I should ease you into certain aspects of the tower before throwing F.R.I.D.A.Y at you."

Apparently Peter and Ned had very different versions of 'easing into something.' "Friday?" asked Ned, finding the name a little bizarre.

"'Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth.'"

"O-K." said Ned, not really getting it.

"Yea, I'm pretty sure my dad found it amusing to just like name things with a random word and _then_ make an acronym to fit it afterward." Peter paused thinking. "I've been trying to come up with something for Karen, but—"

"Who's Karen?" Ned asked completely prepared for her to be anything from another droid-like creation to an alien.

"Oh, she's my suit-lady." Replied a straight-faced Peter.

"Come again?" asked Ned.

Peter blushed. "I mean—she's my suit's AI, so yea, my suit-lady. F.R.I.D.A.Y. is great for . . . well basically everything, but Karen was F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s and my compromise, so that she wouldn't tattle on me to Rhodey. Seriously, I had to invest a _lot_ of hours into persuading F.R.I.D.A.Y. to keep my Spider-Man secret because Dad coded her to view me as Priority Number OneTM no matter the situation, and even _I_ haven't been able to change that. So I created Karen to be more tailored to Spider-Man's needs, but she also reports to F.R.I.D.A.Y., tracking my location and sending her a live-feed, so if I'm ever _actually_ dying F.R.I.D.A.Y. will contact Rhodey, but hopefully that never happens because I don't plan on telling Rhodey about my extracurricular activities anytime soon. Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh yea, acronyms. I chose Karen just because I liked the name and Karen was happy with it. Unlike LN, Karen didn't really have much of an opinion on names, but now I've got to stick with tradition and think of an acronym for her. I was thinking 'Kick Ass Really Eager Nerd' because Karen's totally dope, a little _too_ excitable about some stuff, and nerdy because she's basically a super computer."

"I like that but . . . " said Ned pausing for dramatic affect and then grinning at Peter. "Based on what you've told me about her, I think 'Kick Ass Really Eager _Nanny'_ would be more accurate."

Peter crinkled his nose. "har-har. So funny. Keep up the jokes, and I won't let you help."

"Help? Help with what? Spider-man stuff?!" Ned ask eagerly.

"Yea, or we could work on some SI stuff. Like, I know they just released the new Stark phone, but there's always so much red-tape to go through to get those things on the market. It feels like _ages_ since I worked on that one, and, I've been so busy with Spider-man stuff that I've kinda neglected other new projects . . ." Peter trailed off as he started swiping through various schematics of what looked like souped-up versions of the new Stark phone.

"Y-you design the Stark Phones! Like, _personally?"_ Ned asked in awe. His parents hadn't let him get the newest Stark Phone, since his current phone worked perfectly well–obviously Stark tech was top of the line so it lasted quite a long time—but he'd seen the ads for the latest version and it had looked cutting edge.

Peter blushed, always embarrassed by the attention his genius brought, even if it was rightly deserved. "Not always. I mean, sometimes I build a design from scratch, sometimes I just tweak things a bit, or offer R&D some input. It's a team effort. Well, obviously I don't work with the team directly, but Pepper takes care of passing off my work as that of an outside consultant or something like that. I don't really ask for or care to know the details. But I did quite a bit for the latest one, yea."

"Dude, that's so cool. People are walking around with tech designed by Tony Stark's kid—by _you_ —and they don't even know it!" Ned enthused.

"Again, team effort." Said Peter humbly. "Really, it's not like I'm working on SI stuff 24/7. Even before Spider-Man—not that she knows about that—Pepper has always been stressed that I spend too much time working and not enough time being a kid. And Rhodey won't let me stay up too late in the lab on school nights, so there's only so much I can do."

"Still. No wonder Stark tech is still leaps and bounds above everything else when SI has your brains to rely on." Said Ned.

" _Ned_." Said Peter still in embarrassed exasperation.

"What? Fight me on it. I'm not wrong. . . . Actually, please don't fight me. I think I could've kicked asthmatic and blind Peter's butt, but Spidey Peter could totally whip my ass."

Both boys laughed at that retort.

"Alright, Ned. I get it. Calm down." Said Peter still giggling.

"Also, don't think I didn't notice you name-dropping Pepper Potts. Can I _pretty_ please meet her at some point? I mean, I know I'm going to be terrified, but she's like goals, you know? Running SI like a badass and still looking fierce while doing it."

Peter laughed again, "Please tell her that when you meet her, and sure, I'll introduce you at some point. Her schedule is always jam packed but at some point I'm sure she'll be around when you're over. So . . ." said Peter moving on "do you want to help with this or Spider-Man stuff? Or we could work on both, if we have time before Rhodey gets done with work that is. But once I get started on one project I tend to get sucked into it for the day, ya know? So SI or Spider-Man?"

"Ah I hate making decisions, man." Ned replied with only a little bit of real anxiety slipping into his voice. "But . . . Spider-Man. Definitely Spider-Man stuff. As your Guy in the Chair, I've got make sure you're tech. is top of the line, so that you're safe out there."

"My what?" asked Peter confused.

"You _know_ , your guy in the chaaaair!" said Ned excitedly. "You know how there's a guy, with a headset . . . telling the other guy where to go? If you're in a burning building, I could tell you where to go. There'd be screens around me, like _this"_ Ned gestured to the monitors around them and Peter followed his gaze with a skeptical frown, but Ned continued unperturbed. "and I could swivel around . . . it would be _sooo_ awesome. We'd be like Wade and Kim Possible or—or Riley Poole and Ben Gates! Except, maybe don't steal the Declaration of Independence. I don't think I could handle the stress."

"I don't need a guy in the chair, Ned. It's great that we can talk about Spider-Man stuff now and you can help me with my gear, but I don't want you getting involved in things when I'm actually on patrol. What I do can be dangerous sometimes." Said Peter with a frown.

"Uhh exactly, Peter! I can't have my friend out there all alone taking down thugs and hooligans without me watching his back!" said Ned with earnest concern.

"I'm not alone. I've got Karen, remember?" Said Peter with another petulant frown.

"Well, now you've got me too." said Ned. "This is non-negotiable."

The two boys stared at each other for a moment in a test of wills, before Peter finally let out a sigh. "Okay, okay. We'll try it out."

"You bet we will!" said Ned punching the air in victory.

There was a moment of silence again before Peter spoke. "Thugs and hooligans, huh? Do you think I fight the guys from Home Alone every day or what?"

Ned smiled sheepishly. "No. Obviously not. My dad just watches a lot of old Westerns, so their phrases have started to slip into my day-to-day conversations. I recognize that it's a problem."

"Well that's the first step." Retorted Peter, and the boys laughed again, demonstrating the true strength of their friendship that they could go back and forth from serious to lighthearted conversations in a matter of minutes. "Anyway, I'm sure you'll get bored of being 'my guy in the chair' pretty quickly. Don't go around telling anyone or you'll ruin my reputation, but really most of the time I'm just giving tourists directions and helping old ladies with groceries. . . so yep."

Ned grinned again, but somewhat doubted what Peter said was true. He'd seen the videos on YouTube of Spider-Man—of _Peter_ —doing amazing things like catching a car with his bare hands. But before he could argue with him Peter continued.

"Let's work on my webs then, if that's okay with you? I've been wanting to make a version that last a little bit longer than my normal ones in case, like, I don't know, the cops are busy and can't get to someone I web up right away." Said Peter already running around and pulling things out of drawers and cabinets.

"Oh okay, so you do _make_ the webs?! Like with chemicals and stuff? I can't believe I didn't ask about that yet." Said Ned, looking down as he helped Peter arrange their work space. "I thought you probably did. I mean, I know you're sticky like a spider and can jump really high like some spiders do, but it would be a little weird if that stuff was actually coming out of you."

Ned finished his comment, not looking up from what he was doing, but instead of a reply, there was a crash across the lab, and Ned quickly whipped around to make sure Peter was okay.

"Peter! Are you alright?" asked Ned, running over to find that Peter had dropped a beaker. It lay broken at his feet.

Peter shook his head quickly, already bending down, readying to clean up the mess, but before he could do anything, Dum-E, U, and LN rolled over with a dust pan, a hand-held broom, and a rag, respectively. "Oh, t-thanks guys." Said Peter, his voice wavering as he took the items.

Ned gazed at his friend in concern, especially since he still hadn't answered his question. "Did you cut yourself?"

"No. I'm fine. I just spaced out for a sec. I guess. Silly." Said Peter, sweeping up the glass, but his hands were shaking and a blush had risen on his face.

 _Oh Jeez_.

"I'm such an idiot." Said Ned putting one hand over his face. "A stupid inconsiderate idiot. They do come out of you don't they? The webs?"

"N-no!" Said Peter too quickly.

"It's okay, Peter. It's cool! I mean it _is_ weird, but so is all the other stuff you can do. So is what Captain America, Thor, and Bruce Banner can do. The weirdness of their powers and yours doesn't make them any less awesome. It makes them _more_ awesome. You don't have to lie to me about this. I shouldn't have made you feel like you needed to."

Peter finally made eye-contact with Ned again as he finished sweeping the broken glass into a neat little pile. The blush was receding, and though his voice was soft when he spoke again, the clear hurt that had been there before began to recede. "I-I didn't lie. Not completely. I do make my webs here. I'm up to version 3.0 actually, and those are what I use on patrol in my web-shooters. But . . . I also—Ialsohaveorganicwebsthatcomeoutofmywrists."

Peter said the last part so quickly that it took a moment for Ned to catch what he had said, but it became clear when Peter put down the cleaning supplies and held out his arms—palms up—for Ned to see, and sure enough, about an inch or so from the bottom of Peter's hands, there was one thin line. They looked almost like scars, and would hardly be questioned as abnormal, other than maybe someone might believe that Peter tried cutting himself at some point, which was a disturbing thought. But if Ned looked closer, he could see little white stars on top of the scars—spider webs, just beneath the surface of Peter's skin.

Peter drew his hands back pretty quickly after putting them on display, picking up the now full dust pan and standing up again. "I don't like to use them though because I already have to eat a ton just to stay at a normal weight with my heightened metabolism, and using my organic webs takes even more energy. And I know I've got spider DNA now. I know that. I've accepted it, but it's still weird and freaky. And I'm a freak, and yea."

"Hey, if you're a freak, then _I'm_ a freak. We've been labeled as freaks, nerds, losers, et cetera since elementary school. This is just one more thing that puts you in that category with me. You're really no more of a freak than I am." Ned said quickly trying to reassure his friend, but in all honesty, the web-thing was pretty freaky. But Ned was never going to tell Peter that.

"Thanks, Ned." Said Peter with a weak smile. "But we both know that's not true."

Ned opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, the boys were once again interrupted by the droids who came rushing over with a trash can, dust buster, and for some reason a fire extinguisher.

"Fire extinguisher?" Ned asked.

Peter simply shrugged. "Eh, Rhodey may have been a little more right about how often I blow things up than I admitted to earlier. Plus, for as smart as he was, my dad tended to set things on fire more often than you would think. But still, Dum-E can be a little trigger happy with that, so steer clear."

At that, Ned took a few hesitant steps back and then after that, they jumped right in to improving Peter's webs—the chemically made ones that is—and the exact words of the conversation were forgotten.

But Ned wasn't about to forget that his very best friend—who was so kind, smart, and funny, who put his life on the line day in and day out, literally jumping in front of cars and guns for complete strangers—thought that he was a freak. That he was somehow lesser because of his genetics, even though some of those genes—give or take 50% due to the spider-bite—literally came from the legend that was Tony Stark.

No, Ned was going to keep reminding Peter how awesome he was, and he was going to keep at it until his friend finally saw himself the way Ned did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It case you didn't catch it, some of Ned's dialogue comes from Spider-Man: Homecoming, and aspects of the lab description and the chapter as a whole come from a [scene](https://youtu.be/dh2v48QZXHw) in Iron Man 2 of Tony’s workshop, even though I realize that was in the Malibu home and not in the tower. And speaking of messing with the timeline, the New Year's Eve photo was inspired by the New Year's Eve party in Iron Man 3.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have anything noteworthy to say about this update, so without further ado, have a chapter!

Ned POV

The next few hours were like a dream. An impossible wonderful dream. Working on Spider-Man's webs—on _Peter's_ webs—felt like he was part of history. It felt akin to being in the room with Gutenberg while he made the printing press, or with Alan Turning decoding Nazi messages and ushering in the Computer Age, or—perhaps more appropriately—like he was witnessing Tony Stark inventing Iron Man.

Ned felt euphoric. They hadn't gotten Spider-Man's webs exactly to a point that satisfied Peter, but they'd definitely made progress on a formula that would last longer than the usual two hours. Or well, _Peter_ had made the formula, but Ned liked to think that he had contributed some. At least, Peter made him _feel_ like he had, listening intently whenever Ned had something to say, just like he always did when they were working on a school project together, even if ultimately Ned's suggestion wasn't needed.

"Mini Boss, Colonel Rhodes will be on his way up soon, and, as requested, Mr. Hogan will also be returning soon with your dinner."

"Crap." Said Peter, hurrying to clean up and hide any Spider-Man related evidence, as Ned guiltily helped him.

"There is no need to rush too much in hiding your activities, Young Master Peter." Said F.R.I.D.A.Y. Ned could swear it almost sounded like the AI let out a disappointed sigh. "The Colonel has instructed me to let you know that he is going to make one last phone call that he estimates will take about 10-15 minutes."

"Oh, alright, cool. Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y." Said Peter, slowing down his movements a bit.

"Of course, Mini Boss." F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied fondly despite her obvious disapproval of Peter's continued decision to keep his superhero antics from his guardian.

Ned chuckled at that, finally catching the 'Mini Boss' moniker. He'd been too excited when F.R.I.D.A.Y. had first greeted them to notice it, and then he hadn't been sure he'd heard her correctly a minute ago.

"What's so funny?" asked Peter as he handed Ned a bottle of dissolvent, so Ned could get rid of the last bit of webs that were stubbornly clinging to his fingers.

" _Mini_ Boss?" Ned grinned "I mean, _I_ think it's very fitting, but I'm surprised you haven't told her to just cut it to Boss?"

Peter blushed again. Man, it was _really_ easy to embarrass his friend. Good thing Ned wasn't that cruel, unlike some people, cough— _Flash_ —cough.

"Oh, yea she does that—modifies the ways she addresses me with adjectives like young, little, _mini_. . . I think she does it to constantly remind me I'm a still—in her opinion—a 'kid'. Isn't that right F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" said Peter looking up in no particular direction.

"My motives are completely pure, Mini Boss." Replied F.R.I.D.A.Y. perfectly serious.

"Uh huh. That's not a denial." Said Peter, but there was no malice in his voice.

Ned laughed again. "But, like I said, couldn't you just ask her _not_ to call you that, and just tell her to call you Boss or even just Peter? Surely how she addresses you isn't _so_ important that Mr. Star—that—that your dad kept that code impenetrable to you, right?"

"Well no . . . but it seems wrong to force her. Like, I can't force Rhodey to not call me _Petey_ or kiddo, if he feels like it, or stop Happy from calling me Junior, so why should I dictate what F.R.I.D.A.Y. can call me?" said Peter with a shrug.

"Okay, yea. I see what you mean." Said Ned. "That could come off as anti-droid sentiment."

"Exactly. Besides . . . Dad was always 'Boss' so . . . yea . . ." said Peter trailing off.

Ned nodded, understanding as much as he could that being called the same thing as his dead father would . . . _hurt_ , to say the least.

With that, he and Peter finished picking up the rest of their supplies, but as Ned returned some beakers to a cabinet at the back of the lab, he passed a door that, up until that point, he had assumed was just a supply closet. However, upon closer examination it looked like much more than that, being that there was another place for a code and palm scan right beside it, and the door looked reinforced.

"Um Peter, what's in there?" asked Ned pointing to the not-closet door.

Peter looked up from scrubbing down the countertop to see what Ned was referring to.

"Oh. Um. . . F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Can I . . . can I show Ned, please?" asked Peter, looking up at a nonexistence camera, though Ned supposed there had to be cameras somewhere for F.R.I.D.A.Y. to keep an eye on them, so to speak.

"I am sorry, Young Master Peter. You know, you are not allowed access to The Hall without Colonel Rhodes' prior approval." Replied F.R.I.D.A.Y. pragmatically. "And I am not allowed to interrupt him during working calls unless there has been an incident that requires his immediate attention, such as if the 'baby has a boo-boo,' protocol has been activated or—"

"Baby has a boo—" Ned started to repeat grinning at Peter.

"Shut up. Yes, Ned, as you've probably correctly assumed that's the alert for if I've been injured."

"Or are in extreme emotional distress." F.R.I.D.A.Y. added helpfully.

"Yes! Okay! Moving on!" said Peter, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment in embarrassment and frustration. "I know I'm not _normally_ allowed, but we're not going to work on anything. I swear. I just want to show Ned. You can even tell Rhodey after he's done with his call. I promise we won't touch anything. _Please_ F.R.I.D.A.Y."

There was a moment of silence before F.R.I.D.A.Y. finally replied. "Okay, Mini Boss, but the tattle-tale protocol remains in effect if you break your promise."

"Yes! Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y. you're the best! And don't worry, I won't!" said Peter earnestly.

"Okay, Young Sir." Said F.R.I.D.A.Y. in a tone that suggested perhaps Peter _had_ broken promises to the AI before, most likely related to Spider-Manning Ned supposed.

With F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s reluctant permission, Peter placed his hand on the scanner and then, with well-practiced efficiency, entered a code into the keypad. With the last character entry, there was a click, suggesting the door had unlocked.

Ned waited for Peter to enter first, but despite the evidence that the door had unlocked, his friend hesitated. Ned was just going to say that it was fine. He didn't need to see whatever was in 'The Hall.' He'd already had more excitement in the past couple of days than he had ever expected to have in his life. But then, Peter took a deep breath, grabbed the futuristic looking handle, pushed the door open and stepped through.

A soft glow greeted them, and when Ned's eyes adjusted and he realized what he was seeing, his jaw dropped—Iron Man suits, neatly lined up in glass against a curved wall.

"So . . . this is what I call The Hall of Armor." Said Peter walking up beside Ned, who, without realizing it, had drifted to stand in front of one of the suits, practically salivating. Remembering Peter's promise to F.R.I.D.A.Y., he quickly stuck his hands in his pockets to resist the urge to reach out and touch the glass.

"They're beautiful." Or beautifully dangerous, which he guessed was why Peter wasn't supposed to be in here without Colonel Rhodes' knowledge and permission.

"They're—they're something, yea." Replied Peter a little sadly and Ned internally winced. Of course it had to be difficult to look at Tony Stark's creations, knowing that Mr. Stark was Peter's father, and the man was never going to wear any of the suits of armor again. It also made Ned wonder, as he looked back and forth from his friend to the armor, whether—if he hadn't randomly gotten spider powers and developed his own aesthetic—Peter would have one day taken up the Iron Man mantle just as he more than likely would with Stark Industries.

The thought terrified him, probably equally as much as knowing about what Peter did as Spider-Man, once Ned had gotten past the initial excitement of finding out his best friend was a superhero.

"I don't even recognize a couple of these." Said Ned walking over to a different suit.

"That's probably because the ones you don't recognize have never been outside the lab. Dad never wore them. I made them." Said Peter, completely devoid of any arrogance. "I don't know why. I know he's gone, and I never really considered, even after Spider-Man, the idea that I—or anyone else for that matter—would ever wear them. Besides, Rhodey would _Flip Out_ if I tried to be Iron Man, even if I waited until I was like 30. I guess . . . I don't know. It's cathartic, I suppose. I haven't done any tinkering in here lately though, since I spent the last few months developing the Spidey suit, but I probably will again some time. I'm thinking of working on a nano-tech based suit for both Spider-Man and Iron Man. It should be pretty cool, if I can figure it out that is."

"That's—that's awesome, Peter. These are really impressive; your Spidey suit is too. . . . Your dad would be really proud, I bet." Said Ned giving Peter a sad smile.

"Thanks, Ned." Said Peter toying with the strings of his hoodie again, his mind a million miles away.

Ned studied the suits for a few minutes longer, asking Peter some questions about the different variations from one Mark to the next. He hesitated to ask anything at first, afraid it might be too difficult to remind Peter of his father, but Peter didn't seem to mind, perhaps it was a therapeutic to be able to talk about the suits, in addition to working on them.

After finishing examining the last suit in the row, now aware of Peter's increased metabolism, Ned turned to suggest that they head up and eat, when he noticed another iconic item hanging on the wall behind them opposite the suits.

"Oh. My. God. Is that Captain America's _Shield_?"

"Oh, yep. The one and only." Said Peter, like compared to the rest of his life, having Captain America's Shield in his home was small potatoes, which it probably was. "Well, not _exactly_ the one and only. I think he probably uses other shields on missions now, just not Vibranium ones."

"Why do you have it? I mean, I know he and Iron Man had a falling out about the Accords before . . . but shouldn't your uncle give it back to him? It's gotta be better than anything else he's using. At least, I would guess so. It's not like he's in the public eye anymore, but I know he still works for the government in some capacity, right?"

Peter shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess he doesn't want it back? I don't know. I haven't asked Rhodey about it for a long time because he gets all weird whenever Captain America comes up. I don't think he's ever really forgiven him for siding against my dad right before he died. And my grandfather made the shield, so I think Rhodey believes it belongs to us—or me I suppose—more than it does to Captain America. So yea, here it is." Peter shrugged again.

"Wow . . . wait." Said Ned holding up a hand "Rewind. Does this mean—have you _met_ Captain America?"

Peter gave a small smirk. "Yea one time."

"Peter!" Ned's eyes widened. "Tell me everything! Is Captain America cool?! Or is he like, a mean old grandpa?"

Peter laughed at his friend's questions. "I don't know. My grandparents are all dead, so I'm not exactly sure what a 'mean old grandpa' would be like, but besides, I don't really remember him all that well. It wasn't too long after my dad died that I met him. Maybe like, six months after that I guess? All I really remember is that he seemed . . . kinda sad? Which makes sense. He and my dad _were_ friends, even if they had a falling out toward the end, but anyway, I don't think I really appreciated the fact that I was meeting _the_ Captain America. I mean, I did, but I didn't. I think I was probably equally as excited about the new Lego sets I had gotten that day if I remember right."

"Wow. Still." Said Ned looking up at the shield. Other than five fine scratches on its surface, the shield was perfectly intact. "That's crazy though, that you've met him even if it was only one time."

"Yea, I suppose." Said Peter, and then he paused for a moment before adding, almost as an afterthought. "He sends me letters though."

"What!?" Ned nearly shouted whipping around to face Peter again. "You're pen pals with Captain America!"

"No. I've never even read them. And I'm not sure—" Peter started but Ned cut him off before he could finish explaining.

"Captain America sends you letters, and you. Don't. Read. Them.?! If Captain America sent _me_ letters, I think I would frame them and plaster them on my wall." Said Ned dreamily. "Why the heck don't you read them?

"As I was _trying_ to explain. I shouldn't have said that. I'm not _100%_ positive that he does, but one night when I was like nine, I couldn't sleep so I went out to the kitchen for a glass of milk and I overheard Rhodey talking to someone on the phone—I think maybe with Nat—and"

" _Nat?_ You don't mean—why am I even asking? Of course you mean, Natasha Romanoff, as in THE Black Widow, don't you? I'll let you continue, but we're going to circle back to that." Said Ned.

"Okay. Yes that's who I mean." Ned gasped but let Peter go on. "Anyway, Rhodey was pretty upset. Not necessarily at Nat—if that was who he was talking to—but he was staying stuff like 'Steve has no right to be talking to my kid.' And something like 'stop sending fucking letters just to ease his guilt.' I also heard Rhodey say that 'no he hasn't read them' and he 'didn't plan on letting _me_ read them anytime soon.'"

"Whoa." Said Ned. "That's crazy! Did he notice you then, or did you ever ask him about later? And aren't you mad at your uncle for keeping them from you?"

"Uhh no, I didn't ask him. . . I almost did, but when I was little I was too afraid to because . . . I don't know, it sounds stupid now, but I was still somewhat afraid that if I messed up somehow and accidentally made Rhodey angry one day, he'd leave me because I'm not—he's not—were not _really_ related. And then more time passed and I figured I misheard him or even dreamed it. I still kind of think that either of those could be true. And then more recently, Spider-Man happened and it just all seemed less important, even _if_ I overheard correctly. And I can't be _that_ mad at Rhodey because, well, I'm keeping a secret from him too. Besides, if what I thought I heard was correct, then Rhodey said he didn't plan on letting me read them anytime _soon_ , not that he would _never_ let me read them . . . So I figure, one day, if they _do_ exist, he will . . . let me read them . . . "

Peter trailed off and the boys stared at the shield again for a few moments longer.

If he looked hard enough, at _just_ the right angle, Ned could see the Iron Man suits behind them reflected on the shield's surface in the soft light . . . almost as if Tony Stark himself was watching over them, or . . . more likely, watching over Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do people hate Steve more or less now for trying to write to Peter? Also, I think (emphasis on think) there's going to be nine chapters now instead of eight.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the last chapter brought out a LOT of emotions/reactions from people, and I am here for them all! Please continue to share your thoughts if you feel up to doing so. It's really interesting to get a sense of everyone's perspective on the story/series. :)

Although working with Peter in the lab kept him from dwelling on it too much, Ned had worried that dinner with Colonel Rhodes would be awkward, mostly because _Ned_ would be awkward. But fortunately, after the first five minutes, it really wasn't.

It was actually really great.

Colonel Rhodes—Rhodey, as the man kept insisting Ned call him—was indisputably a nice guy who clearly loved Peter like he was his own son, and lived up to every vague thing Peter had ever said about him.

Rhodey asked Ned about himself and his family, even though it was clear based on how he steered the conversation that the man already knew pretty much all about him thanks to Peter. But even so, none of his questions felt insincere. And, for a retired Avenger, high-ranking military officer, _and_ former best friend of Iron Man, the guy seemed surprisingly . . . normal.

He acted a lot like Ned's own father. He even whipped out a dad joke earlier when Happy dropped off the food and Peter had said 'thank god, I'm so hungry.' And Rhodey had instantly responded 'hi so hungry, I'm Rhodey,' causing Peter to stick his tongue out at the man in fake disgust.

Honestly, Ned grinned so much throughout the dinner that his face hurt afterward. And even when dinner wound down and Rhodey asked if he could speak to him alone for a few minutes, Ned's stomach only fluttered a tiny little bit.

Peter had warned Ned before dinner that Rhodey was going to want to talk to him alone and make sure he understood the seriousness of Peter's secret, but not to be nervous because Rhodey might _try_ to be intimidating, but he really wasn't.

Of course, Peter's reassurance didn't keep Ned's nerves completely at bay. Ned was pretty sure if the Colonel wanted to be intimidating, he definitely could be, even if Peter didn't find him to be so. After all, it was the superhero name 'War Machine' that stuck, not 'Iron Patriot.' _And_ , more likely than not, the man had killed people, and Ned could barely mange to kill, well, . . . a spider—knowing Peter was Spider-Man would probably make it more difficult now, if not impossible—without screaming throughout the entire process.

Nevertheless, even as they all got up from the table, Peter still tried to ease his worries, while Rhodey was out of earshot.

"Honestly, the whole thing is soooo unnecessary, but it was one of Rhodey's concessions for letting me tell you. Sorry about that. It'll be pretty painless though. Seriously, Rhodey's _not_ scary, so it will be fine. He'll probably just shove a legal document in front of your face and that'll be that . . . but are you sure you're okay with this? I can try talking him out of it."

"No, no. It's okay. I get it." said Ned, trying to sound reassuring, even though internally he was starting to freak out a bit more. But he wasn't about to bail, even if he could. If he was going to be Peter's Guy in the Chair, he had to be able to face stressful situations.

"Ready, Ned?" asked Rhodey as he finished putting the last plate in the dishwasher.

"Y-yep!" said Ned with a forced smile that Rhodey reciprocated with what at least _looked_ like a genuine one, and not one that said 'you are about to be verbally threatened to within an inch of your life.' And with that, he followed Rhodey to his office, looking over his should back at Peter who was putting the remaining leftovers in the fridge. Peter grinned reassuringly and gave Ned a thumbs up, and then he and Rhodey turned the corner leaving the other boy behind.

Rhodey led Ned into his office, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Take a seat, Ned." Said Rhodey gesturing to one of two chairs in front of the mahogany desk that occupied one corner of the spacious room. For a moment, Ned wondered why Colonel Rhodes would ever need two extra chairs. How many people could really visit him in his office when no one knew about Peter?

But then Ned realized that besides Rhodey and Peter—who obviously knew about himself—Mr. Hogan knew about Peter, and according to Peter, so did THE Pepper Potts _and_ not to mention apparently the Black Widow and Captain America, though from what Peter had said, the latter wasn't getting an invitation for a meeting in Rhodey's personal office anytime soon. Plus, from the sound of it, there had to be at least one or two lawyers who knew about Peter for legal reasons or whatever too, and then there was the mystery blond kid from the photos who Ned kept forgetting to ask Peter about, so maybe the chairs _were_ used every once in a blue moon to hold butts much more important than his.

"Ned?" Rhodey prompted gently, and Ned realized he was still hovering awkwardly near the doorway like an idiot.

"S-sorry!" said Ned quickly hurrying over to the closest chair, making even more of fool of himself as he tripped over the rug. But thankfully, he managed to keep his footing.

Rhodey, blessedly, didn't comment on Ned's clumsiness. Instead, he simply followed Ned over to the desk and took the seat beside him, which was surprising. He had expected Rhodey to take the seat behind the desk to reinforce the significance of their impending discussion. But he didn't. He sat beside him like they were equals.

"How are you doing, Ned?" asked Rhodey giving him a once over.

"Good. Fine. Gr-great, sir. Colonel Rhodes—Mr. Rhodes—Rhodey."

Rhodey smiled at him kindly and chuckled. "It's okay Ned, you don't need to be nervous. I'm not going to torture you. We're just going to have a quick and painless chat."

"O-okay. Yea of course." Said Ned unconvincingly. "I know that."

"Really, Ned. I promise." Said Rhodey, holding up his right hand for a moment like he was swearing a solemn oath that it were true. "I'll admit, I was . . . _reluctant_ to say the least when Peter said he wanted to tell you who he really is. And when hedid eventually win me over, I still didn't think it was the best decision. But seeing you guys together—I'm so glad he can be his full-self around you now. You're a good friend to him, Ned."

Ned blushed. "I'm no better than Peter. He's a good friend too. A great friend. The _best_."

Rhodey smiled at him again. But it was a little sadder this time, like perhaps he was remembering _his_ best friend.

"Well, I can't say that you're wrong about that. I for one think Peter's the best too. He says I'm biased, but you and I both know the truth." Said Rhodey giving Ned a wink, and Ned grinned back, a little more comfortable now that they were bonding over their shared love of Peter.

"Alright." Said Rhodey slapping his hands down on the armrests of his chair before standing up and heading around behind his desk, so much for being equals, here came the intimidation tactics. Ned clenched his hands together nervously.

But Rhodey simply opened a drawer, searched through it for a bit, and then pulled out an official looking few pieces of paper neatly held together with a paper clip and headed back over to sit beside Ned once more. "No use beating around the bush. So, this is an NDA—a non-disclosure agreement. The lawyers will probably hate me for telling you this, but, as a minor, this really isn't going to be enforceable against you should you choose to break it before you turn 18, which is why they wanted to get your parents involved, but in my mind, that's just two more people that will know about Peter, so I vetoed that. Besides, once Peter's secret is out, it's _out_. No amount of damages will change that, which trust me, I have no desire—or need—to go after you or your family for money. The point is, I don't want you to think I'm making you sign this because I don't trust you. Everything Peter has ever told me about you has made clear what kind of person you are, and speaking with you throughout the night has only confirmed to me that you're a good kid."

Ned's palms were starting to sweat. Despite the fact that Rhodey was only saying nice things about him, he was getting really nervous again. And he didn't even know why. He would sign an NDA in a heartbeat, even if it were completely enforceable against him. Sure, initially he had wanted to shout from the rooftop that his friend was Spider-Man _and_ Iron Man's son—he still kind of did to be honest—but he wouldn't because that's not what Peter wanted. Honestly, he'd sell his soul for Peter.

Still, he felt like there was a _but_ coming.

"And I trust you. Not only because Peter trusts you, but because of how you've conducted yourself today and since you've been a part of Peter's life, but . . . "

There it was.

Rhodey continued "like Peter, you're still a kid. And this is a _big_ secret for a 15-year-old kid to keep. And, like I said, it's not like this piece of paper would really keep you from telling the world about Peter if you wanted to, regardless of its validity, so I don't want you to think of this as just an NDA because, again, I don't believe you would ever tell Peter's secret to anyone on purpose—though, I hope you know that you need to be careful. Outside of these walls, you can't go around casually referring to Peter as a Stark, even if you think no one is listening. And it'd be best if you were careful about what you put in your texts too, in case you ever lose your phone. But, you're a teenager, and teenagers make mistakes. I've accepted that, so that's not the biggest part of this discussion that I want to reinforce. If anything sticks with you from our talk, I hope it's this: I want you to think of your signing this as a commitment—a commitment to always being in Peter's corner. To support him when no one else will, but to brave enough to go against him when he is about to do something you know he shouldn't. Mainly, I want to know that you'll always have his back."

"Of course I—" Ned started, but Rhodey politely cut him off.

"Just a second, Ned. There's more I want to say, and then you can let me know your answer. Peter is _literally_ the nicest and smartest kid I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and his dad would've been the first to agree with me on that. But, I can tell you from experience that being friends with a Stark isn't always easy. Not that I didn't love Tony for all his faults, and fortunately, Peter seems lucky enough to have missed out on inheriting some of his admittedly less desirable traits, but he's still had a tough life. And despite the numerous perks that come with being a billionaire, his life is going to continue to be difficult, _especially_ when he eventually reveals himself to the world. When that happens, so many people are going to be clamoring for his attention, he'll be afraid to trust people. Trust me, I know. I saw it during my freshman year at MIT in my little genius fourteen-year-old roommate who for too long of a time tried to push me away because he was afraid and didn't believe that anyone could possibly want to be friends with _him_ and not his money."

Rhodey sighed sadly, lost in a memory. "Peter's lost more people than anyone should, especially one so young. None of whom he deserved to lose. And I can't watch him lose anyone else. If you sign this, I want you take it as a pledge—a _promise_. A promise that if it's in your power, you'll be there for Peter Parker _and_ for Peter Stark. For the kid who is too shy to call someone out for cutting in front of him in line, _and_ for the kid that's heir to a billion-dollar company. For the kid that's terrified of public speaking because he thinks he'll embarrass himself _and_ for the kid who's so intelligent that he'll sometimes run out of a room mid-sentence because he's thought of something new to create. So, Ned. What do you say? Can you be that friend for him? Can you stand by him?"

Ned swallowed. Rhodey stared at him—kindly but with an unrestrained intensity. When Rhodey laid it out like that, it was a lot to take in, sure. But Ned always new Peter was exceptional. Extraordinary. He was Peter's friend. He had been his friend since what seemed like forever. And he would be his friend for life. Nothing Rhodey said changed that.

"Yes." Said Ned. His voice was—for the first time—strong and steady. "Yes I can do that. I _will_ do that. Peter's my friend. He'll _always_ be my friend. He'd help me without zero hesitation, so how could I do anything short of that for him?"

Rhodey smiled at Ned again. "I thought you'd say something along those lines. Glad to have you on board, Ned."

And with that, Ned signed the document. He knew Colonel Rhodes might be right that sometimes it would be tough to be Peter's friend—and Rhodey didn't even know about Spider-Man—but no matter how tough times got, he would never regret his decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *Finishes chapter. Eats a cookie.*
> 
> \-----a few minutes later-----
> 
> Me: "Shit, Ned's a minor! Contracts and minors don't mesh, eek!" *tweaks chapter slightly* "Whew, crisis averted."
> 
> Lol, I put way too much thought into this. Reminder, the next chapter will be the last of this story, but I hope to continue this series in the future. Full disclosure though, I'm usually pretty slow at deciding to write a story, writing a story, and/or updating said story.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things, this chapter discusses alcoholism a bit, and I'm not an expert on that, so I just wanted to forewarn people about it in case it's a trigger for anyone. Also, there's at least one quote or part of a quote from Spider-Man: Homecoming, and if Harley's sister has a name in canon, I don't know it, so I called her Abbie because I think some fics have done that, or maybe they call her Allie? I don't remember, but I don't think she has a name in canon because I couldn't find one for her. Anyway, this is the last chapter of this part! Hope you enjoy.

When Ned and Rhodey came out of his office and returned to the kitchen, they found Peter sitting on the counter swinging his feet anxiously while he fiddled with a nearly solved Rubik's cube. Knowing Peter, he had probably already solved it several times over and had simply rearranged it again and again while he waited.

As soon as Peter noticed their return, he quickly set the cube down and jumped off the counter (probably more gracefully than an asthmatic teenager with zero hand-eye coordination would have) but Rhodey didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't say anything.

Peter hastily approached them. "Ned, you okay? Did he try to intimidate you? Rhodey, did you try to intimidate him? Because that really wasn't necessary. _Please_ tell me he didn't lecture you too bad. It's really not as big of a deal as he makes it out to be. I know you're not going to tell anyone so that's that. I don't see why—"

"Peter." Said Ned grabbing his friend by the shoulders "It's fine. He didn't lecture me. I just signed an NDA and that was it. We're all good."

Peter's eyes darted between Ned and Rhodey suspiciously. "You sure?"

"Yes, Peter. I'm sure." Said Ned with all of the conviction he could muster.

"Jeesh, Pete." Said Rhodey. "You'd think I'd plan to go all Christian Bale Batman on the kid based on your reaction."

Peter scoffed, but with good humor. "Please, you _try_ to be intimidating, but you're actually a big teddy bear. The only batman you could be is _Lego_ Batman."

Rhodey put a hand to his chest in mock offense. "You wound me kid." Said Rhodey as he ruffled the boy's hair.

Ned laughed at their familiar banter, glad that he could finally be a part of this side of his friend's life.

* * *

Later that evening, after a movie, popcorn, and some ice cream, Ned and Peter were finally ready to call it a night.

Ned lay tucked into the lower bunk, and Peter rested on the bunk above him, having climbed up to the top level via the wall, rather than the ladder, just to appease Ned's unwavering fangirling over the fact that his best friend was Spider-Man.

They chatted for a while about nothing of great importance—the release of a new book in a sci-fi series they were both into, if there was any truth to the rumor that Mr. Harrington once did Bruce Banner a favor in exchange for pizza, and how Ned's little sister was handling starting middle school. But eventually, the conversation puttered out, and Ned heard Peter yawn above him.

"Peter?" Ned asked quietly, but he knew with his super hearing Peter would hear him.

"Yea?"

"I keep meaning to ask you, who is that tall blond kid in some of the photos with you?" asked Ned curiously.

"Oh. That's Harley, Harley Keener. He helped my dad out back in the day when the whole 'Mandarin' thing was going on and everyone thought he was dead. Apparently, my dad landed in Tennessee and broke into Harley's garage, so Harley threatened him with a potato gun before he realized who he was—well, knowing Harley—maybe afterward too. And then Harley was able to help him track down one of Aldrich Killian's cronies, _and_ he claims he threw a snowball at the guy but I'm not sure whether to believe that or not. Harley likes to exaggerate for dramatic effect."

"Wow." Ned laughed. "That's awesome."

"Yea, Harley's a pretty cool dude." Replied Peter in agreement. "But when you guys inevitably meet, don't tell him I said that though or I'll never hear the end of it."

Ned laughed. "So, he knows who you are then, obviously?"

"Mm-hmm, yep." Said Peter through another yawn. "My dad found him, his mom, and little sister to be trustworthy after that whole fiasco, so he let them in on the secret of my existence. I think dad thought it would be good for me to have a friends around my own age that know who I am too, even though Harley's a bit older than us and his sister—Abbie—a little younger. But, yea, sometimes Dad would fly his family to New York, and we'd hang out. We never saw each other _that_ often, but it was still nice to have someone _sort of_ close to my age that I could talk to about SI and Iron man stuff. We don't really see each other as much now that he's busy with college at MIT, but he texts me sometimes. I think he views me as somewhat of a little brother that he needs to look out for, which is nice but also annoying sometimes because he might be a sassy worry wart, but he's _still_ a worry wart."

Ned smiled, thinking about the fact that there was another member of the Peter Protection Squad looking out for his friend. "Does he know about Spider-Man?"

"Nah, Ned. I told you; you're the only one that knows about that. It's too hard to predict what he would do if he found out. He's super chill, so he might think it's really cool and want to be involved, but he's also _super_ over-protective, so he's just as likely to immediately tell Rhodey. I don't know . . ."

Peter trailed off and they fell into silence again.

_And that would be a bad thing?_ Ned thought to himself.

Now that he'd sat down with Rhodey one-on-one, he'd really started to become uncomfortable with keeping the fact that Peter was throwing himself into danger on a regular basis from the man. But he wasn't sure how to approach that conversation just yet, so for now, he asked about something else, perhaps just as important to his friend's well-being.

"Peter?" asked Ned again.

"Hmm?" Peter replied, stifling another yawn.

"You don't . . . you don't have to talk about him if you don't want to, but um . . . what was he like, your dad? What was he _really_ like? You know I never believed all the bad things the news said about him. I mean, he flew a _nuke_ into space with no thought for his own safety. Obviously, he could never be to me what he was to you, but he was my hero too. So I just—if you want to talk about him… you—you can. You know that right? I'll listen."

There was silence for a few seconds, and he thought that maybe he'd pushed too far. But then Peter finally answered him.

"He was the best. He was really funny. And super snarky—a lot like Harley really than like me—that part of his personality that he showed in interviews was real. And he was obviously really smart. That's not a secret. When I was a really little, I thought he knew _everything._ If he couldn't be home to tuck me in, he'd always call before my bedtime—no matter what time zone he was in—unless he was dealing with some emergency. And even though he wasn't particularly great at it, he'd bake cookies and make homemade Italian food with me too. And we'd build all sorts of Lego contraptions, and he always seemed like he was having the time of his life doing so, even though, looking back, it couldn't have been that fun for him."

"I would bet good money that he always had a blast building Legos with you, Peter. When are Legos, and _you_ , not fun? And he sounds like an amazing dad, Peter." Said Ned, and he meant it.

"He was. I mean, he wasn't _perfect_. He did his best, but he . . . he had his problems. . . ."

Peter trailed off again, but something in the tone of his voice told Ned that he actually wanted to talk about it.

"What do you mean?" Ned asked gently prodding.

"Well, he had PTSD from New York and Afghanistan and probably about a hundred other things he never told me about because there's only so much you can explain to a little kid, and—and he'd get these panic attacks sometimes, which were really scary because he'd like almost stop breathing and get tremors, and I never really understood what was happening, so all I could do was call Rhodey or Pepper or Happy as a last resort, he's not very good at emotional stuff, even though F.R.I.D.A.Y.—or if it was long enough ago JARVIS—would already be calling them, and try to talk to him until they arrived or he recovered on his own. It didn't happen _that_ often because eventually I'm pretty sure he got on medication for it, but sometimes I think he'd get so invested in a project that he'd just forget to take it."

"Jeez Peter." Said Ned. It was stupid of him to assume that because he was a superhero, Tony Stark was unaffected by everything he'd been through, but Ned had truly never really thought about what the consequences of torture and basically fighting in a ware would be. "That—that sounds awful. I never realized . . . I'm sorry he went through that and you had to watch." Ned said finally.

Ned could practically hear Peter's sad shrug. "Not your fault. But yea, it wasn't great . . . I guess that's what happens when you save the world though. But he wasn't ashamed of it, at least, not with me. He used his own experience to teach me that it's okay to feel scared and overwhelmed, even though I'm not very good at accepting that. He'd always say that 'not even Starks are made of Iron.'"

The room fell into silence again before Ned broke it once more. "I guess the news doesn't really talk about the aftermath of superheroing . . . at least not for the heroes. . ."

"The news and tabloids don't get everything wrong though . . . dad didn't just have PTSD, he um, . . . hewasanalcoholic." said Peter quickly as though he were afraid that statement alone would make Ned forget all of the good things Tony Stark ever did for the world. "But he got in under control after I was born! Almost . . . almost always anyway. Rhodey told me that when dad found out he had to be my parent full time, he dumped out all of the alcohol in his house. Like, he literally dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars of booze down the drain. He might've been drunk when he did that though because the smarter thing would probably have been to sell them or give them away, but the point is, he did that because, although he was afraid about being a full-time dad, he wanted to do what was best for me. That's why he'd kinda been hands off before my mom and uncle died. Rhodey said that my dad thought they'd do a better job of raising me and could give me a normal life, but after they both died, I guess he knew he had to step up, so he did. Or, he tried to . . . but sometimes . . . he'd relapse and he'd—he'd . . . "

Peter couldn't finish, and Ned was kind of afraid of asking why—afraid that he knew the reason.

Ned remembered there was this one kid—Shawn—in his class in elementary before he'd met Peter, who'd shown up to school with bruises sometimes, allegedly because he was really clumsily, which at the time young naïve Ned had accepted as the truth, if he even noticed at all. Eventually the kid and his two older siblings moved away to live with their grandma because their dad was 'sick.' It wasn't until a couple of years ago when his mom was organizing some photo albums and made some off-hand comment when she came across an old photo of Ned and his kindergarten classmates that Ned realized what 'sick' meant. It meant that Shawn's dad was an abusive alcoholic. But Ned wasn't so naive anymore, and he really hoped he was wrong, because he didn't want his whole perception of the man he thought of as a hero to change, and he especially didn't want to think of his friend being in that situation.

"Did he . . . hurt you, Peter?" asked Ned as tentatively as possible.

"What?! No!" Peter replied immediately appalled.

"Sorry I—"

"He never—"

Both Ned and Peter tried to speak at the same time but Ned quickly shut up to let Peter continue.

"It's okay, Ned. I get why, maybe you would think that. . . . I mean, his alcoholism wasn't _really_ a secret with what was plastered all over the tabloids, even if I didn't really understand what he was going through at the time, but no. He never hit me. He would _never_ have hit me. I was just going to say that sometimes he'd relapse and just get really _sad_. Or maybe he would get really sad and that's why he relapsed. I don't know. I guess I'll never know now . . . but anyway, I just, I didn't like to see him like that. And I wasn't _supposed_ to see him like that. He had one of his protocols set up in case that happened. He—he"

And then, to Ned's surprise, Peter laughed.

"He had _so_ many protocols, a lot of which F.R.I.D.A.Y. still uses as you might have gathered. Anyway, I don't remember what it was called, probably something outrageous, but as soon as he so much as brought an alcoholic beverage into the house, Pepper, Happy, or Rhodey would be alerted and they'd come get me, but one night he'd been out somewhere and I guess he had a bad day because, well he didn't come home sober. Memaw had been watching me, and I don't know if he was just really good at hiding that he was drunk or if they just didn't really chat because it was so late when he got back because Memaw never would've let me stay with him if she knew he was drunk, but um he _was_. And, I don't know, I just remember I was sleeping and then suddenly I was awake and dad was hugging me really tightly, sobbing—just, just these huge tears—and apologizing. I didn't understand what was wrong. I was only like four or something, but I guess he tried to stand up with me at some point because the next thing I knew he'd fallen backward with me in his arms. I was fine but he hit his head an—and there was blood everywhere and I remember screaming because I thought he was going to die he was bleeding so much, but then Happy was there and Pepper—I think Rhodey was probably overseas at the time—and Happy took care of my dad, while Pepper calmed me down, and I guess, I don't know, I just fell asleep eventually."

"That's . . . that's heavy stuff Peter." Said Ned finally, not know what else to say.

"Sorry. Yea, I'm rambling. I should shut up now." said Peter, and Ned might've been imagining it, but it sounded like maybe Peter had pulled his comforter up over his head because his voice sounded a little muffled.

"You're not rambling. And you can tell me anything, Peter." Said Ned kindly. "Only if you want to of course."

"Thanks, Ned. I guess, it does feel good to talk about it. Both my dad, and later Rhodey, have tried to put me in therapy to . . . talk about stuff . . . but I've never liked talking to strangers. I know therapy can be great for some people, but it's just not for me. Or maybe I just haven't found the right therapist. But anyway, it was scary; but it was just one time. And dad explained to me later when he had . . . recovered, what had happened, or he _tried_ to. That's not really something you can explain to a toddler super easily, but he said he was sick. And then of course I was immediately terrified again that he was dying because I knew my mom had gotten sick and that's why she was no longer around, but he said no. It wasn't that kind of sickness. It was . . . . in his head. He said there were a lot things he loved about his brain but some things were not so great. And he would just get sad and scared sometimes . . . but, but even if I had to deal with that all again, I would, if it meant I could have my Dad back. Because I miss him, Ned. I miss him _so_ much, and I feel like I remember him less and less every day. And he had been doing so much better, but then he h-he died."

"Peter . . . " Ned swallowed, sitting up in the bottom bunk because even if he wasn't outright sobbing, Peter was clearly crying now. Ned could tell that much from the sound of his voice, and Ned felt like he needed to see his friend, just so he truly knew that he was there for him, even if that meant struggling up to the top bunk. But before Ned could get out of bed, Peter spoke again, and Ned felt like he had to pause to listen or Peter might not get out what he wanted to say.

"But I used to get so _angry_ at him too—after he died I mean. I would get mad because, why couldn't he have just let someone else do whatever it was he had to do on that last day? Why did _he_ have to be the one to go? Why did _he_ have to be the one to die? Couldn't Captain America have handled it, even if they didn't really trust each other in the end? Dad was just a guy in a suit. He wasn't some god/alien like Thor, a powerful android like Vision, or a man who could turn into basically an indestructible green rage monster. He was human, and yet, he went out there again and again. And he came back every time, so I stupidly thought he _was_ invincible. But then, he didn't come back, and I realized he hadn't been invincible. He was just as human as you and me—or well, as human as I used to be. So I was angry at him because _he_ obviouslyknew that he was human and could die, even if _I_ didn't. So I didn't get why he did what he did. Why he went out and left me when anytime could've been the last time, and eventually it was. But I do _now_. I get it now. He did it _for_ me, and for everyone else too. Because he knew—he knew that when you can do the things that he could do—that _I_ can do—but you don't, and _then_ the bad things happen. They happen _because_ of you."

"That—Peter" Ned paused. It was difficult to face that his friend felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "maybe that was what your Dad thought, and wow, that's amazing that he did, and that you feel like you have a responsibility to the world. But _Peter_ , if someone does bad things that's on _them_ not _you_ , no matter how powerful you are."

"I just—I don't see it that way Ned." Said Peter matter-of-factly. His voice was steady now, despite its recent quiver.

"Okay, well. I guess we have to agree to disagree on that, but . . . don't you think you should _at least_ tell your uncle what you're doing? If you're going to hold yourself accountable for _that much_ , don't you think you should have someone watching your back?" asked Ned, trying to be reasonable.

At that, Peter's head suddenly popped up over the bottom of the top bunk, Ned only barely managed not to yelp at his friend's unexpected appearance, but he still flinched pretty violently.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." said Peter, giving Ned an upside-down sheepish smile. It was an odd combination—the upside-down smile, red eyes, and recent tear tracks on Peter's face. "But I don't need him to watch my back when it comes to this, Ned. I've been doing this on my own—well with Karen—for a while now, and I've been _fine_. I mean, there was that one time I got stabbed and things were dicey for a few hours after that, but I handled it. I can handle this. _We_ can handle this."

_Stabbed?!_ That didn't sound like handling it and Ned's opinion. "But Peter—"

"Besides!" Said Peter cutting him off. "You're watching my back now, right? Guy-in-the-chair?"

Ned's heart warmed with excitement and honor at Peter's first time officially dubbing him as his 'guy-in-the-chair,' and Ned found himself beginning to grin in response. But wait. No. This was serious. He wasn't about to let Peter brush just how serious this was under the rug. The smile dropped from his face as Peter looked at him expectantly.

"Of _course_ I'll be your Guy-in-the-Chair and watch your back, Peter. You _know_ how happy that would make me, but still . . . . I feel like _maybe_ an adult should too? Like, my mom still shops for my underwear, Peter! I'm not equipped to manage the life of a superhero by myself!"

Peter frowned again. "You were ready to yesterday. You thought everything about Spider-Man was awesome yesterday."

"I know . . . and it is! But . . . I hadn't really processed it then, you know? I still haven't now to be honest, but then I don't know, with what you've been telling me, and Rhodey's talk, it just all seems like a lot more dangerous than I originally thought. Like, you getting stabbed! That's a big deal, Peter! You could've died! You could die doing Spider-Man stuff!"

"I know that, _Ned_ , but the fact is, I could die _any_ day, doing _any_ number of things. Everyone could. People forget that. I don't. Just _please_ don't tell Rhodey. I'll tell him soon—"

"When's soon?" asked Ned, this time being the one to cut his friend off.

"I don't know, Ned! Soon is _soon_! I mean, I just convinced him to let me tell you about the fact that I'm a Stark, and he was stressing out about that enough already. Tomorrow I'm not going to be like 'hey Rhodey, by the way, I'm Spider-Man. Do with that information what you will. Tra-la-la!'"

"Okay, okay. I get your point, I won't put an official time frame on it . . . _yet,_ but if _I_ promise not to tell him, then _you_ have to promise to tell him like _really soon_ , not tomorrow, but soon. Otherwise, I'm going to keep asking everyday if you've told him or not yet, which I'm sure will get super annoying after a while."

Peter let out a sigh, but nodded his head. "Okay, yes, alright. I promise to tell him _really soon_. So do _you_ promise not to tell him?"

"I promise." Said Ned reluctantly after a pause. Man, he hoped he didn't regret that promise. "But if _soon_ turns into like a month from now or something serious happens, then I think I have to tell him, okay?"

Peter ran one hand down (up?) his face and took a deep breath. "Okay. . . . I guess that's reasonable. . . . shake on it?"

"Good, and obviously." Said Ned scooting up into a kneeling position so he was close enough to Peter to do their epic handshake, and it was only then that Ned was close enough to realize that Peter would have to be leaning _super_ far over the top bunk to be as close to him as he was.

"Are you _standing_ on the ceiling?" Ned asked in awe.

"Uh, yea dude. I have been for like five minutes now. Part-spider, remember? That's literally what like 95% of our conversation has been about for the past hour or whatever."

"Right. Yea, but still, wow." Replied Ned as they did their epic handshake—the classic, the bruh, the divide, the eagle, the com (pound bow), the backhand, the slap, the fisticuffs, and lastly finger guns.

"Okay, well. Night, Ned." Said Peter disappearing back over the top bunk.

"Night, Peter." Said Ned quietly laying back down to face the underside of the bunk once more.

It would be okay. He told himself. Peter wasn't invincible, but he wasn't powerless either, and with Ned watching his back now plus Karen, his friend would stay safe, and he'd tell Rhodey soon too, so that would make things a lot better . . . once he got over the shock of finding out his nephew was moonlighting as a superhero.

Yea, Peter would be fine. He _had_ to be fine.

But . . . Colonel Rhodes had always watched Iron Man's back too, hadn't he? And well . . . that hadn't stopped Tony Stark from dying.

Ned rolled over onto his side, and shut his eyes tightly, but it was a long while before he fell asleep. And when he did, he dreamed of a spider trying to climb a water spout again and again after it was washed out one time after another and a grave stone that read 'Here lies Peter Parker Stark.'

In the morning, he didn't remember the dreams, but nonetheless, for the rest of the day, he couldn't quite shake a sense of dread.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. What an emotional end to this Part. As I've said, I hope to continue this series—ideally focusing on a Steve and Peter confrontation—but I have no timeframe for doing so as of yet. Btw, if anyone is interested, how I described Peter and Ned's handshake is pretty close to how they broke it down in this [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APjr27VD2so). Thanks for reading!


End file.
